I would like to welcome the Minister for State to the House and thank him for taking my motion on the Adjournment. I am asking the Minister and the Government to treat retiring Garda fairly. They are being denied their full pension payments. I believe the Government must include all pay allowances in calculating the pensions of the retired members of the force.
It is a feature of superannuation in the Civil Service and in other public sector organisations that pay allowances are reckonable for pension computation. Gardaí are exceptional in that allowances in the nature of pay earned by them is not pensionable. Gardaí receive these allowances regularly as basic pay and they are part of their normal living expenses and it is unfair to omit them from calculation for pensions. The reduction in income which gardaí experience when they go on persion causes more hardship than would be the case if they were retiring from similrly compensating grades in other parts of the public sector. In fact, they are entitled to 50 per cent of their pay as pension but they only obtain 40 per cent. They have a net loss of 20 per cent.
Gardaí, nurses, prison officers and fire brigade personnel all receive special allowances calculated in an identical formula in respect of duty at weekends, at night and on public holidays. These allowances are pensionable in the case of all groups concerned with the exception of the Garda. Members of the Garda Síochána are being treated unfairly and ina discriminatory manner because the allowances in question, when paid to them, are not calculable for pension purposes.
I will give part of the history of this claim which goes back to June 1978. The Association of the AGSI, which was then known as the representative body for inspectors, station sergeants and sergeants lodged a claim on 16 March 1978 with the Garda Conciliation Council seeking to have all allowances in the nature of pay declared reckonable for the purposes of the Superannuation Acts. The claim was discussed by the Garda Conciliation Council on 8 June 1978, 20 June 1978, December 1979 and March 1980. It was discussed with the Garda Representative Association on 20 June 1979, 12 December 1979 and in March 1980. In the course of these discussions a working party was established consisting of representatives of the official side, the Department of Finance and the Department of Justice, and the staff side, members of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors and the Garda Representative Association.
During these working party discussions the official side stated that they had been authorised by the Minister for the Public Service to make an offer on the claim which constituted the granting of 15 different allowances but excluded were 12 different allowances, including subsistence allowance, overtime allowance and rent allowance. They stated that the guiding principle was that the allowances should be those in the nature of pay only. The staff side objected to the offer on the basis that it did not provide for averaging over the entire rank and entire force and rent allowances were not included as pensionable allowance. The official side saw rent allowances as a disbursement allowance rather than in the nature of pay and, as such, could not concede it. In relation to allowances being paid to individuals, the official side stated they could not entertain the concept whereby a member not drawing a particular allowance would benefit pensionwise in respect of same.
Following regional meetings and in-depth consideration by the conciliation council, on 22 September 1980, 11 years ago, it was agreed a mediator from the Labour Court would be brought in to undertake mediation in the case. Mr. Michael Corcoran, director of the conciliation service, was appointed mediator but no progress was made on 27 May 1981 when he chaired proceedings. The staff association then stated a claim in accordance with the provisions of the conciliation and arbitration scheme through the arbitrator and the claim was heard. Following the findings of the board further discussions took place to determine arrangements in regard to pension contributions in respect of allowances declared reckonable for the purpose of the Superannuation Acts. A major fall-out of the findings was that members of the force who retired prior to 1 October 1982 had never had rent allowance taken into account for the purpose of calculating their pensions. It has been a major point of bitterness for Garda pensioners and has always been seen by them as unfair and inadequate.
Gardaí working the regular shift, the shift work that involves tours between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m., between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. and between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. encompassing Saturdays, Sundays, Bank Holidays and night duty, also feel very unfairly treated. They receive allowances in respect of working these unsocial hours. They pay PAYE and PRSI on these allowances, yet they are not considered reckonable for pension purposes. The members feel very aggrieved especially on two fronts. They see their colleagues, who work basically Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with bank holidays off, and therefore at home with their families at Christmas and Easter, having to perform no night duty and in receipt of allowances which are pensionable, for example, instructors, radio technicians, clerical, ex officio weights and measures inspectors and so on. The sense of grievance and unfairness has increased over time and these allowances have increased in value thereby giving rise to improved gratuities and pensions. The sense of unfairness is also experienced on a broader front. Prison service personnel and fire brigade personnel have unsocial allowances taken into account for gratuity and pension purposes.
As time goes on, the sense of grievance is deepening and the other pensionable allowances grow and become more valuable, thus widening the difference in pensions. Gardaí are becoming increasingly angered by the unfairness of the treatment as they see it and are putting tremendous pressure on the AGSI and the GRA to bring about a solution to the problem.
Gardaí on the ground who face the gunmen, the burglars, the terrorists, the violence at all hours of the day and night, 365 days of the year, cannot accept that at the end of the day they are worth less in terms of gratuity and pensions than their colleagues whom they deem to be in much less vulnerable and hazardous conditions. The members would further argue that things have changed fundamentally since arbitration findings in 1982. We now have the Criminal Justice Act for treatment of persons on custody regulations and the Garda Complaints Act. These pieces of legislation are the primary concern of the gardaí on the ground, requiring an increased expertise on his or her part as well as providing for a far greater degree of in-depth examination of his or her actions.
A final aspect to this problem is that the Ryan committee of inquiry gave superintendents and chief superintendents a substantial increase in pay to compensate for not qualifying for unsocial hours payment. This pay increase was reflected in subsequent pension and gratuity. In the interests of fairness and justice, steps should be taken to rectify the situation at an early date. Surely if the Minister for Finance could see his way to accommodating claims in 1982, the present Minister can give sympathetic and positive consideration to the matter at this stage. The Minister might claim that there would be repercussive effects.
There are three groups who work around the clock and are in receipt of a rent allowance and of unsocial hours payments, namely, gardaí, prison officers and fire brigade personnel. Fire brigade personnel have both rent allowances and unsocial hours taken into account for gratuity and pension services. Prison officers have unsocial hours payments pensionable but do not have the rent allowance pensionable. Gardaí have rent allowance pensionable but not unsocial hours pensionable.
The repercussive claims arising from the concessions of pensionability of unsocial hours payment to gardaí would be concessions of pensionability of rent allowance to prison officers. There are currently just over 2,000 prison officers. On the basis that 100 were to retire per year, the annual cost per hundred would be £300,000 in gratuity and £75,000 in pension costs. This does not take into account the payment of pensions to persons already retired, neither does it take into account contributions to be paid by the members concerned in respect of pension: The calculation has not been accumulated over the years in terms of years spent in retirement. Finally, one would argue that the next cost by the Exchequer would be minimal in repercussive terms when one takes away contributions, PAYE and PRSI deductions.
The members of both the Garda Representative Association and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors are becoming increasingly frustrated and angry with the failure to accommodate this very legitimate claim. The sense of grievance is growing day by day. Members of the AGSI were in the Dáil last week during Question Time. The full executive were there when questions were asked of the Minister for Justice.
I can see huge pressure building up especially since many of the gardaí spent 30 years working unsocial hours for which they received no recognition at the end of the day. We boast, and rightly so, that we have one of the best police forces in the world. They are a necessary arm of the institutions of the State. With the Army they protect the institutions of the State. I do not see why they should be singled out to be treated unfairly when other people in the public service receive gratuity and pension on their full pay.
