Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:446. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the full-year cost of repealing the FEMPI legislation. [35053/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 24 July 2018
Ceisteanna (446)
Freagraí scríofa
The unwinding of the emergency FEMPI legislation commenced with the Lansdowne Road Agreement 2016-2018 and will be completed under the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018 -2020 (PSSA).
In relation to the PSSA, the measures agreed were given legal effect through the enactment of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017. The PSSA also makes provision for pay increases to be made to those public servants for whom FEMPI pay measures have already been unwound.
The cost of the pay measures under the PSSA Agreement in the years 2018-2020 is €887m. Carry-over costs of €227m associated with the final 2% pay increase in October 2020 fall in 2021.
In addition, a further €78m is required to complete FEMPI pay restoration for those public servants whose salary will not be fully restored (those on annualised remuneration greater than €70,000) through the PSSA increases. Under section 19 of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act for those covered by the Agreement, these remaining amounts will be paid no later than July 2022.
Separately, the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act provides for the continued unwinding of the Public Service Pension Reduction, PSPR, at an estimated cost of €24 million in 2019 and €12 million in 2020. When fully in place from the beginning of 2020, these changes will mean that the vast majority of public service retirees, comprising everyone with occupational pension values up to at least €54,000, will be entirely free of PSPR. For those who retired since end-February 2012 that threshold will be even higher, at €60,000. Under section 27(3) of the Act, an order for the complete unwinding of PSPR, at an estimated additional cost of €12m, must be made by 31st December 2020.
In total therefore the costs associated with the agreed unwinding of the remaining FEMPI pay and pensions measures is estimated at €1.24 billion. However, I should point out that the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 also made provision for the conversion, with effect from 1 January 2019, of the existing Pension Related Deduction FEMPI measure applied to public servants, to a permanent Additional Superannuation Contribution (ASC) which will, when fully implemented, yield some €550 million in 2020. This will form a significant additional contribution from public servants towards the sustainability of public service pensions.