Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)

I thank Deputy Brendan Ryan for raising this important issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly. I appreciate that the retirees concerned have been waiting for a considerable period for clarity on their full pension entitlements.

In July 2005, the Department of Finance issued a circular to public service employers notifying them of a change in the method of calculating pensions of former employees whose pension entitlements are integrated with social welfare benefits. This had the result of generally improving the pension paid to lower paid workers. The Health Service Executive has confirmed that all eligible staff who retired since the circular came into effect have had their pensions calculated in accordance with the arrangements introduced in 2005. However, as the Deputy stated, the cases of a cohort of staff who had retired before the changes were introduced had to be reviewed to establish whether their pension entitlements needed to be revised. The HSE has been working to address this issue.

It is important to appreciate that, as with other areas of public administration, the health service pensions function has experienced a loss of staff in recent years as a result of retirements and the requirement to reduce the size and cost of the public service. Pensions administration is a complex area of work, requiring a considerable level of staff expertise and experience. For this reason, it can be difficult to supplement existing capacity in the short-term. Moreover, the workload in this area nationally has been much increased as a result, in particular, of the health service voluntary early retirement and voluntary redundancy schemes in 2010 and 2011, as well as approximately 4,700 retirements during the latter stages of the pensions grace period which expired in February 2012.

A concerted effort is being made to address the backlog in respect of staff who retired before the revised integration arrangements came into effect. This work is being undertaken at regional rather than central level and involves the systematic review of manual records. I understand the necessary recalculation has been fully implemented in the areas which previously constituted the north eastern, south eastern, southern and mid-western health boards. The pensions of more than 400 pensioners in the north west have been reviewed and the review in this area will shortly be complete. Arising from this work, approximately 300 pensioners will have increased pensions paid in July 2012. This will come as good news to the individuals affected.

Work has commenced in the west and east - two areas specifically referred to by Deputy Ryan - with a view to completing this task by the fourth quarter of the year. Particular resource issues have arisen in respect of pensions processing capacity in the midlands and the HSE is working to put in place additional supports to address the backlog in this area. I understand the concerns expressed by Deputy Ryan with regard to areas where the matter remains unresolved. The Minister assures the House that the HSE is making all possible efforts to bring this long-standing issue to a satisfactory conclusion.

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