Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

The Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009 introduced a number of measures in the public interest. Section 2 of the Act provided for a pension-related deduction, PRD, to be made from the remuneration of public servants who are members of public service pension schemes or who have analogous arrangements. On average, this reduced pay by approximately 7%. The PRD was introduced in the context of the priority being given to the stabilisation of the public finances and the serious crisis facing the State. The deduction took account of the fact that public servants enjoyed relatively good pension provision in comparison with other workers.

The Croke Park agreement sets out our approach on the pension arrangements of existing public servants. The agreement makes no changes to the pension terms of serving staff. However, it provides for discussions to take place on the method of determining pension increases for existing public servants when they retire. A clarification to the agreement further provides that there will be no change in this method during the lifetime of the agreement.

The Government is preparing a single pension scheme for new entrants to the public service. This will provide career-average defined benefit pensions, inflation linkage of benefits and set pension age equal to the State pension age.

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