Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I seek clarification on one issue. The Minister will be aware I submitted a parliamentary question to him which was responded to yesterday. My question asked the Minister what was the percentage reduction in the annualised amount of the public service pension for Ministers who will retire on a full combined ministerial and Oireachtas pension in 2016 and if he would make a statement on the matter. This followed on our debate on Committee Stage.

I wish to know whether my interpretation of the answer the Minister gave is correct. He said that many Ministers would not have the full ten years' Cabinet service or the full 20 years' Oireachtas service. I am sure some will. He went on to say:

Subject to that caveat, and assuming enactment of the 2015 Bill, in the event that a full-service Cabinet Minister were to retire in 2016, the annualised amount of public service pension then payable to him or her would be reduced, on account of PSPR, by €2,536, or 2.75%, to €89,762 in 2016 following application of the relevant PSPR table, as set out in the 2015 Bill.

The Minister is saying therefore that a serving Minister who retires in 2016 on a full ministerial Oireachtas pension will be on a pension of €89,762. However, he went on to say:

It should be noted that the pension awarded to such a 2016 retiree [we are talking about Members of the Government who will retire next year] would be based on the pay rates in place just before the public service pay adjustments of July 2013 under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2013.

Am I correct on this? In 2013 we had the Haddington Road agreement and that agreement included reductions in pay for people in the public service on salaries of over €65,000. This included Ministers and Oireachtas Members. Am I correct that under the Lansdowne Road agreement and this legislation, this provision will be reversed in a couple of stages? The essence of the point made by Deputy McDonald is that this means there are now pay improvements for people on salaries of over €65,000, all because the Haddington Road agreement contained a sunset clause.

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