Vol. 508 No. 1
847 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason the widow of a former primary teacher (details supplied) in County Kerry is left without financial support following the death of her husband in 1993 in spite of the fact that he was a contributor to the pension scheme throughout his primary teaching career; the steps, if any, open to her to secure an income based on these contributions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17417/99]
The teacher in question paid contributions towards retirement benefits but did not pay contributions for purposes of a widows' and childrens' pension.
The position is that the teachers' pension schemes made no provision for pensions in the case of spouses of members or of their children until 1969. In 1969 a contributory widows' and childrens' pension scheme, which provided benefits for the survivors of deceased male national schoolteachers, came into operation. The scheme was later extended to female teachers. All male national schoolteachers who were in pensionable service between 23 July 1968 and 30 June 1969 were given the option of joining the scheme or opting out of it. Teachers were made fully aware that a spouse's pension would not be payable by my Department on the death of any teacher who had opted out of the scheme.
The teacher in question was a serving teacher during the option period and chose not to become a member of the widows' and childrens' pension scheme. Membership would have required him to pay an ongoing contribution at the rate of 1.5 per cent of pay until retirement and, at retirement, a contribution of 1 per cent of retiring pay in respect of each year of pensionable service given prior to 1 July 1969. He paid no contributions towards the scheme either by way of deduction from his salary or from the retirement gratuity which he received when he retired in 1985.
As the teacher was not a member of the scheme, the position is that his widow is not eligible for a pension from my Department. The superannuation provisions are of general application and it is not open to me to depart from them in individual cases.
