Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise one other issue, that of discretionary pension awards. In chapter 5 of the university report the issue of pension top-ups attracted media attention. There was evidence that some of the universities were topping up the pensions of staff as they decided to leave. The Department has indicated that work is under way in each university to identify all sets of circumstances where there is de facto entitlement. The point the report was making was that people who had been operating in a particular pension scheme for a period of time had built an expectation that when they came to retire, they would be able to claim the full amount and that the college was operating within that environment. Where do they stand? Is that practice still continuing?