Vol. 554 No. 5
390 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Finance if the final report of the commission on public service pensions has been considered in full; if formal decisions have been made on the commission's recommendations; if parity of pensions for the members of An Garda Síochána who retired prior to 1993 has been addressed; the progress which has been made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15485/02]
I would like to point out that the pension arrangements of the An Garda Síochána are a matter for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in the first instance. I can however say that in September 2001 the Government decided to accept the thrust of the package of reforms recommended by the Commission on Public Service Pensions and to establish a working group to advise on implementation as provided for in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. The working group has met on a number of occasions since January of this year and hopes to be in a position to report by the end of the year. Parallel structures with the same remit have been established in the case of An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces. The operational details of the implementation of the commission recommendations will be agreed by Government following receipt of a report from the implementation working group.
In relation to the issue of parity of pensions for members of An Garda Síochána who retired prior to 1993, I should point out that the commission examined the specific issue of the pensionability of allowances for members of An Garda Síochána and others, as part of its deliberations, but, having assessed the arguments involved, did not recommend any increase in pension for the groups involved.
