I propose to take Questions Nos. 403, 404 and 408 together.
I have no proposals to make any amendments to the civil service retirement age. The amount of pension to which a civil servant may be entitled and both the compulsory retirement age and minimum pension age provisions to which a civil servant may be subject, depend on the pension conditions applicable at the date of original recruitment. Furthermore, the calculation of pension entitlements is related to a civil servant's level of remuneration and service at time of retirement. The pensions (and contributions) of the majority of civil servants who are fully insured and are in defined benefit pension schemes are, like many occupational pension schemes, integrated (or co-ordinated) with social welfare benefits. This means the occupational pension is paid on the assumption that the pensioner also receives the State Pension. In instances when the State Pension is not payable, a supplementary pension may be payable under the relevant public service pension scheme to bring the pension up to the same amount as would be paid to a public servant whose pension is not integrated.