Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Can I give the Deputy an example? For the first €12,000 there is no reduction; for those receiving between €12,000 and €24,000, the reduction is 6%; for those receiving between €24,000 and €60,000, the reduction is 9%; for those between €60,000 and €100,000, the reduction is 12%; and anyone with a pension over €100,000 has seen a reduction of a further 20%, a decision brought about by this Government and presumably opposed by the Opposition. Legislation introduced by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform last year to add the 20% rate for those in receipt of amounts over €100,000 came into effect from 1 January 2012. The Government is proud to inform the House of the measure.

In contrast to the proportionate and tapered pension reduction measures, a much heavier reduction in public service pensions, levied, for example, on those above €100,000 is sometimes proposed. That would save limited amounts of money and would potentially affect only a small number of public service pensioners. In this context, at the end of September, some 84 former civil servants and 28 former office holders or judges currently being paid by the Paymaster General were in receipt of pensions of over €100,000. Some 112 people are the substance of the motion tabled by the Opposition.

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