Vol. 577 No. 3
57 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the concerns expressed by teacher unions on the possible implications for recruitment of teachers due to the changes announced in the budget in the pension conditions for teachers and other public servants; his views on their concerns; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30911/03]
I presume that the Deputy is referring to the announcement made by my colleague, the Minister for Finance, that the retirement age for new entrants to the public service will be set at 65 years. The change is based on the report of the Commission on Public Service Pensions.
The Government established the commission in 1996 because of concerns about the rising cost of public service pensions. The age at which public servants, including teachers, should retire were amongst the matters considered by the commission.
In September 2001 the Government accepted its report in principle. It also decided to establish a joint working group with the public services committee of ICTU to examine and report on the implementation of the commission's recommendations. Recently the group made a report. The Minister for Finance has overall responsibility for public service pensions policy and he considered both reports. Subsequently he brought reform proposals to Government. It approved them and the Minister for Finance made the announcement in his budget.
When the commission considered the retirement age for public servants it noted that most categories, including teachers, may serve until 65 years of age. It also noted that, for operational reasons, certain categories of public servants are required to retire before reaching 65 years. These comprise the Garda, the Defence Forces, prison officers and firefighters.
The commission considered all aspects of the matter, including the fact that life expectancy is rising. It recommended that the retirement age for all new entrants to the public service, other than those who are required to retire earlier for operational reasons, be set at 65 years. The Government decided to apply the recommendation to public servants recruited on and after 1 April 2004. Serving public servants will not be affected. The new retirement age will not come into operation generally until after the 2040 when public servants recruited after 1 April 2004 begin to reach 65 years of age.
All public service jobs will have the same retirement age for new entrants. The only exception will be those that take earlier retirement for operational reasons. Pension benefits are a consideration in career choices. However, the changes are not likely to give rise to particular difficulties in the recruitment of teachers.
