Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 6, line 10, after "servant" to insert "and excludes non-pensionable payments".

This amendment raises the issue of the categories of people and the types of payment included in this. The amendment sets out that the remuneration would exclude non-pensionable payments. We were just discussing retained firefighters but there are other categories, such as people providing home help services, who have no pension scheme. There are significant numbers of people working for the public service, on a contractual basis or otherwise, who are not covered by a pension scheme. The issue is what elements one includes.

The other issue that arises is whether the Minister intends to include overtime payments, even though pension entitlement would not relate to them. Many people are on very low incomes, which they supplement by working unsociable hours. Many of the submissions we see reflect the fact that people have undertaken to work unsociable hours for which they get no pension cover and that they are being treated in the same way as others who, perhaps, are on the same pay but have that pay entirely pension-covered. There is a sense of injustice because the only reason some people are getting into certain categories is that they work very unsociable hours or take on work that otherwise would not be done. If this is to be confined, excepting judges, to people who have pensions, if in public service, is it not fair to exclude people such as home helps and certain categories of payment if they do not contribute to a person's pension rights?

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