Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

The Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Act 2009 made provision for a reduction in the salaries of public servants with effect from 1 January 2010. Under section 6 of the Act, I varied the application of the pay reductions for the assistant secretary and deputy secretary grades in the Civil Service, and related public service grades, to take account of the reduction in remuneration which had already taken place for these grades arising from the termination of the scheme of performance-related pay.

Section 3 of the Act provides that, for those public servants currently in receipt of a pension or those public servants retiring up to 31 December next, the pay reductions would be disregarded for the purpose of calculating their pension benefits. This provision applies equally to all public servants who are subject to the legislation irrespective of their salary and, accordingly, no discriminatory impacts arise.

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