Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 10:

In page 5, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following:"Amendment of section 29 of Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017

8.Section 29 of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 is amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):

"(1) In this Part, 'pensionable pay', in relation to a public servant and in respect of a specified period, means—

(a) basic pay (excluding overtime) due to the public servant in respect of that period, and

(b) allowances, emoluments or premium pay (or its equivalent) so due to him or her which, by virtue of subsection (2), are treated as pensionable pay,

but does not include the amount of any such basic pay, allowances, emoluments or premium pay (or its equivalent) forgone under any salary sacrifice arrangement specifically approved by the Revenue Commissioners in relation to the provision to that public servant of an exempt employee benefit.",

and

(b) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (4):

"(5) In this section—

'Act of 1997' means the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997;

'exempt employee benefit' means a benefit specifically approved by the Revenue Commissioners which is referred to in section 118B(2)(a)(i) or (iii) of the Act of 1997;

'salary sacrifice arrangement' has the same meaning as it has in section 118B of the Act of 1997.".".

The purpose of amendment No. 10 is to ensure a salary sacrifice for employees under taxsaver schemes, such as the transport to work scheme and the cycle to work scheme, will not become liable for the new additional superannuation contribution. This is necessary in order for the treatment of the additional superannuation contribution to comply with the understanding reached with the public service unions in the context of the 2018-20 public service stability agreement, which was that the treatment of the additional superannuation contribution would mirror the treatment of the pension-related deduction. An amendment of the Long Title of the Bill is required to take account of the amendment to the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 in relation to the additional superannuation contribution, and this is provided for in amendment No. 12.