Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 10 Jun 2003

Vol. 568 No. 1

Written Answers. - Pension Provisions.

Jim O'Keeffe

Ceist:

362 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason years of teaching service in Northern Ireland cannot be combined with service in the Republic of Ireland for pension and early retirement purposes and vice versa; the discussions which have taken place on this issue; and the person who is responsible for failure to arrive at an agreed outcome. [15643/03]

Minister for Education and Science (Mr. N. Dempsey)

The reason that years of teaching service in Northern Ireland cannot be combined with years of teaching service in this jurisdiction is that there is no agreement at present between the jurisdictions on the transferability of pension entitlements.

The North-South Ministerial Council agreed at a sectoral meeting in February 2000 that a working group on teachers' superannuation should be set up to consider this matter. The working group has met on a number of occasions since August 2000, most recently in March 2003, and presented a progress report to the council in November 2001.

At its plenary meeting on 28 June 2002, the council decided that a broad-based working group should be set up to consider the question of superannuation generally. This decision, which was taken following consideration by council of a report on the study of obstacles to cross-border mobility, has not yet been implemented because of the suspension of the council. In light of this, the working group on teachers' superannuation is continuing its work. It is expected that a further meeting to review progress and consider how to advance matters will shortly take place.

I should add that the joint working group on teachers' superannuation has been fully aware at all times that the superannuation arrangements of teachers cannot be considered in isolation and that any arrangements proposed in the case of teachers will have to have full regard to the costs and other implications for employers in the public sector generally. The group includes representatives of the Department of Finance, the Department that has responsibility for public sector pen sions policy in this State. It also includes actuaries on both sides.

In its report to the council, in November 2001, the joint working group reported that progress was being made and pointed out the potential for agreement on the establishment of a feasible transfer system. The group is continuing to examine the financial and other implications of introducing such a system.