Vol. 399 No. 3
17 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will outline the impact which the proposed EC social welfare legislation will have on Irish pensioners in 1992-1993 in relation to their benefits; and whether this will adversely affect entitlements as they are at present un-coordinated with State benefits.
EC regulations provide for the protection of the social security entitlements of employed and self-employed workers, members of their families and surviving dependants where they move to other member states in the course of their careers to reside and/or to take up employment or self-employment. Provision is also made for the protection of entitlements in the case of temporary stays, such as holidays, in other member states.
A person who has been insured in more than one member state in the course of his career, is entitled to a pension from each of those states. He may receive from each state either a pension based on his insurance in that state or, if it is higher, a pension which is in proportion to the periods of insurance he has completed in that state as compared with his total combined insurance in all the states where he was insured. These regulations have applied in Ireland since our accession to the European Community in 1973.
On 31 July 1989 The EC Commission submitted proposals for a series of amendments to the regulations governing the payment and calculation of pensions. These amendments, which are mainly linked with the case law of the European Court of Justice in this area, are designed to simplify the rules for awarding pensions under the regulations and ease the rules which apply to overlapping entitlements, particularly in the case of invalidity pensions. The adoption of these amendments will improve the existing protection of pension entitlements afforded by the regulations.
The EC regulations on social security do not apply to occupational pension schemes. Entitlements under such schemes can represent a major proportion of pension entitlements, particularly for workers on higher earnings. I have been concerned about this matter and, as President of the Council of Ministers for Social Security, I raised this issue at an informal Council of Ministers for Social Security which I hosted here on 27 April 1990. At this meeting the protection of entitlements under occupational schemes in the case of persons who change jobs or move to other member states was one of the main topics discussed. There was a general consensus that priority should be given to the introduction of appropriate measures in this regard at both national and Community level. The informal Council also provided Ministers with an opportunity to give preliminary indications as to what measures would be feasible in the short-term to improve the present position and what the priorities should be in the medium to long term. The discussion at the meeting will greatly facilitate and speed up the consideration of this matter at Community level with a view to specific proposals being brought forward at an early date.
I thank the Minister for his extensive reply. It was so extensive that it does not allow me to ask as many supplementaries as I would have wished. I commend the Minister for his efforts in this area because there is no doubt in the minds of trade unionists, in particular, that the implications of EC legislation in the 1992-93 period will definitely affect people's entitlements. That is the view of the professionals representing these people. We commend the Minister for his efforts and we ask him to keep us informed of what he sees will be the implications for both un-co-ordinated State pensions and co-ordinated pensions also.
I thank the Deputy for his support in this matter. As far as our business today is concerned, when we will be taking the Pensions Bill, 1990, we are very much to the forefront in that regard and this is something which is recognised by other member states. They have committed themselves to pursuing this approach on the international basis so there will be a ready exchange between countries. It is directly related to mobility. There was a difficulty in bringing these within the EC legislation but in relation to mobility it affects particularly skilled people and those involved in management moving from one country to another. I am very conscious of that difficulty and it is an issue I brought home to member states at a recent Council meeting.
