Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 April 2012
589 Deputy Emmet Stagg asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number and grades of civil servants who have been re-employed by his Department having taken the early retirement package or retired due to reaching the retirement age in each year since 2005. [20227/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra597 Deputy Anthony Lawlor asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of public servants who have retired from his Department, under the early retirement scheme or otherwise, and who are now back on his Department’s payroll; if these retirees have been re-employed on a full time, part time or contract basis; the position they hold; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20448/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra605 Deputy Derek Nolan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of public servants that received a pension and lump sum on retirement that are again working in the public service and semi State bodies under his aegis; the number of these persons that are on a permanent contract, short-term contract, or working in a temporary capacity; the cost of same to the Exchequer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21183/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 589, 597 and 605 together.
It is assumed that the Deputies are primarily interested in whether any staff of my Department, who benefited from either the Incentivised Early Retirement Scheme in 2009 or the transitional arrangement that operated up to 29 February, 2012 which allowed public servants to retire on pensions calculated on the basis of the salary scales prior to the January 2010 pay reductions, have subsequently been re-employed by my Department. Accordingly the information set out below covers the period of both these Schemes. Information prior to 2009 is not readily available.
The Incentivised Scheme of Early Retirement (ISER), which was in place from 01 May 2009 to 23 October 2009, allowed public servants, who had not yet reached minimum retirement age, to retire without any actuarial reduction applied to their pension entitlements. A total of 51 staff in my Department availed of the ISER, none of whom were re-employed by my Department. Under the terms of the ISER persons who availed of the scheme are not eligible for re-employment by their former public service employer.
The Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Act 2009 provided that the superannuation benefits of public servants, who retired within a grace period from 1 January 2010 to 29 February 2012, were unaffected by the pay reductions introduced for all public servants under that Act. A total of 116 staff in my Department retired within this grace period. A number of these staff retired under the terms of the Cost Neutral Early Retirement Scheme (CNER) while others had reached normal retirement age. None of these staff have been re-employed by my Department.
While none of the above staff were re-employed, it should be noted that on occasion, retired public servants may be re-engaged by my Department on a short term basis because of their particular knowledge and expertise in a particular area, for example, to serve on interview boards.
