Vol. 62 No. 5
I move:
That the Seanad hereby approves of the Garda Síochána Pensions Order, 1966, made on the 17th day of October, 1966, by the Minister for Justice, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance, under section 13 of the Police Forces Amalgamation Act, 1925.
In regard to the motion moved by Senator Browne the memorandum, which has been circulated to Members of the House with the Order, explains the effects of its provisions.
As Senators will observe from the memorandum, the Order provides for the application to members of the Garda Síochána of the benefits of the Pensions (Abatement) Act, 1965, which applies to Civil Servants and Local Government Officials.
At present, the Garda Síochána Pensions Orders provide for the abatement of the pension of a retired member of the Force who takes up any employment remunerated out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas or out of the Central Fund. This will be changed by the new Order in the following respects:
(1) there will no longer be any abatement in the pension of a retired member of the Force who secures employment, other than in the Garda Síochána;
(2) in the case where abatement will continue to apply namely where the re-employment is in the Garda Síochána, it will be alleviated by being related, not, as heretofore, to the pay at the date of retirement but to the pay currently applying to the member's former postion, and
(3) the abatement in the pension of a retired member of the Force, who is reappointed to the Garda Síochána, may be waived by the Minister for Finance subject to the condition that the pensioner is re-employed for work, for which he has particular training and experience, and that it is not practicable to meet the requirement otherwise.
The Order will have effect from the 1st January, 1965, which is the date that the Pensions (Abatement) Act came into force.
As the Order will, thus, operate to the advantage of members of the Garda Síochána, I trust that the House will find no difficulty in signifying its approval.
This Order is certainly a welcome one. When the Pensions Bill was debated in this House Members on all sides indicated their desire that all abatements in regard to pensions should be removed as speedily as possible. It is undesirable that persons who go out on pension and are brought back to full work should, just because they happen to be state pensioners and not people coming out on pension from a private employer, be penalised in some way. This further step in the remedying of the position of Garda pensioners is certainly most welcome.
