Written Answers. - Pension Provisions.
John Perry
Ceist:
164
Mr. Perry
asked the
Minister for Health and Children
the number of senior staff nurses in County Sligo who retired prior to 5 November 1999; the reason they will not receive parity in their pension entitlements in view of the pay award to the nursing professions; if he has made a decision on the case submitted by the Retired Nurses Association of Ireland; the plans he has to include all grades of retired nurses to be covered by the current pension parity plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[15200/01]
The senior staff nurse post is a new post which was created as part of the settlement of the nurses' strike in 1999, and the earliest date on which a staff nurse could have been appointed to such a post was 5 November 1999.
I am aware of concerns expressed by the Retired Nurses Association of Ireland concerning the report of the commission on public service pensions and the 1999 nurses pay agreement.
The Government intends to make formal decisions on the recommendations of the commission on public service pensions following detailed consideration of the report which was published on 31 January 2001. The Government will then move to establish the working group, provided for under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, to advise on implementation of the relevant Government decisions. The working group will comprise representatives of the public service unions, relevant Departments, and other appropriate bodies.
The commission's recommendations have implications for all parties having an interest in public service pensions – the Government, public service employers, trade unions, pensioner associations, such as the Retired Nurses Association of Ireland, individual public servants, and pensioners, as well as the taxpayer. For this reason, the Government is taking particular care in examining the report.
When publishing the report, the Minister for Finance commented on the commission view that its recommendations represented an integrated and cohesive long-term strategy for public service pensions, and that in implementing this strategy it would be important to preserve the integrity of the measures in the report as a whole. As he stated then, he expects this to be a significant consideration in deciding the Government's response to the commission's report.
It would therefore be inappropriate to address specific issues in isolation at this stage.
With regard to the 1999 nurses pay settlement, the standard parity criteria whereby retired nurses benefit from adjustments made to the salaries applicable to the grades in which they served before their retirement continue to apply. The Retired Nurses Association's concerns relate specifically to the senior staff nurse post, and to red-circled allowances payable to deputy nursing officers, theatre-night sisters and public health nurses.
As I have explained, the senior staff nurse is a new post created as part of the 1999 settlement. Staff appointed to these posts will benefit from the rate for the post on retirement. The senior staff nurse rate does not however apply to pensioners who retired prior to 5 November 1999.
With regard to the red circled allowances referred to above, these allowances only apply to nurses who were in employment on the effective date – 16 November 1999. As pensionable allowances are only taken into account at retirement where (a) actual moneys have been paid, and (b) contribution in respect of such payments have been made to the superannuation scheme, it follows that these allowances cannot be applied to pensioners who retired before the effective date.
These issues have been raised by the Nursing Alliance and discussions have taken place under the auspices of the Health Service Employers Agency. In this context, my Department has confirmed with the Department of Finance that the approach being taken is consistent with public service pensions increase policy. My policy adviser, accompanied by officials from my Department's nursing policy division, met with a delegation from the association on 9 May 2001 and explained the position to them.
