Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise an issue with the Minster. It is not entirely in her Department but the job seeker part of it is and is under this schedule. The Minister for public expenditure comes into it as well, but it relates to members of An Garda Síochána who joined the force after 1995. They do not retire on the same pension as gardaí who joined prior to 1995. They can make up the difference but they have to go on jobseeker's payments for nine months after they retire. Is it fair to ask this? The people who joined after 1995 have a different pension to those who joined before that. There are a couple of reasons why it does not sit will with An Garda Síochána, and I suppose if we were in the same position ourselves, it would not sit well with us either. Those who joined after 1995 must go on jobseeker's payments for nine months after they retire to make up the difference to bring them up to the same level as the Garda pension for pre-1995 entrants. They are only allowed two weeks' holidays so they have to explain to the Minister’s Department why they are on jobseeker's payments and they have to be available for work. Then, if they work, there are deductions afterwards to the pension that they get. It is not very fair, in my view. I ask the Minister that she and the Minister for public expenditure and reform go back to the Government and look at the Garda pension set-up because of the big difference between those members who joined prior to or after 1995. Then there is a different scenario again with those who joined after 2013. There is the one pension Act. Gardaí are not happy about this. It is not very fair that they have to go on jobseeker's payments after they retire to make up the difference to bring them up to where they would have been had they joined before 1995. There is a huge difference there and I ask the Government to look at that.