Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

The amendment seeks the deletion of the subsection which provides that former or current Oireachtas Members shall not be members of the single scheme. I reiterate what the Minister had to say at the opening of this debate, namely, that we cannot legislate retrospectively in these matters. The Government decided that the single pension scheme should extend to new or first time Members of the Oireachtas and officeholders, including Ministers and Ministers of State. However, unlike almost all public servants Oireachtas Members do not have security of tenure and are subject to the will of the electorate. There can be a considerable change in Oireachtas membership from one Dáil or Seanad to the next. The requirement to be re-elected from time to time means that Oireachtas Members are different to the general body. I accept that we do opt for this life. However, I have often made the point that most people opt for the job they do and as such I do not believe that we are that different. The nature of our work may be different but how we get here is not in my view entirely different. This special factor is taken into account in the Bill for serving or former Oireachtas Members and Ministers. Accordingly, in the case of a Member of the Oireachtas and officeholder who was first elected or appointed before this Bill becomes law, he or she will be a member of the single scheme in respect of any future service as an Oireachtas Member. This is considered a reasonable exception on the basis that a Deputy, Senator or Minister may not be re-elected and consequently does not have the same security of tenure as do other public servants. The argument in respect of this provision was made on Second and Committee Stages. We will not be accepting the amendment.

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