Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

If we could only meet everyone's expectations. I am taking this Topical Issue matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, and I thank Deputy Penrose for raising it.

The so-called pensions grace period was introduced with effect from 1 January 2010. It provided that the reduction in public service pay, which had effect from the same date, would be disregarded for the purpose of calculating retirement benefits for staff who retired by 29 February 2012. During the period from September 2011 to February 2012, 4,700 staff retired from the public health service. Of this figure, 970 were staff who were not in current service, such as persons availing of preserved benefits or who had been absent on long-term sick leave.

The concentration of retirements in the final months of the grace period necessitated the calculation and payment of benefits at a rate well above normal levels. To deal with this increase in demand in the context of reducing staff numbers, where possible, pensions unit staff worked additional hours on an overtime basis. Every effort is being made to ensure benefits are calculated and paid within a reasonable timeframe. It is important to note that, in general, there is a time lag of four to six weeks between retirement date and the payment of pension. Within this period a retiree would generally receive a final salary payment.

In recent months, with the concentrated volume of retirements, the general processing period has had to be extended to six to eight weeks. To date, the retirement benefits of more than 90% of staff who retired from the public health sector before the end of the grace period have been fully paid out. The processing of benefits in some cases can be complex owing to the variety of contractual arrangements, work patterns and different payment patterns which may have applied throughout the career of the health service employee. Where delays have been experienced or where a retired staff member has requested to be paid some moneys, the HSE has made interim part-payments. This is to minimise financial hardship. This part-payment is made while the retired employee's full career service and pensionable earnings are being verified.

I am aware that recently there have been some resourcing issues in the pensions service in the HSE midlands region. To address this, a pension manager has been assigned, along with three additional staff, to deal with outstanding cases. As a result, good progress has been made and the HSE anticipates the great majority of these cases will have been processed by the end of this month. A small number of more complex cases, which I am sure is what the Deputy is talking about, will take somewhat longer to process, but it is anticipated these will be completed during June.

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