Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Minister of State to take a look at this issue. Defence Forces pensions are not like Civil Service pensions; they are a completely different category altogether. Subjecting them to the same rules and regulations, which are being applied in a very slapdash manner, is not helpful for people who loyally serve this State. We are talking about people retiring - being forced to retire - at, say, 58 or 60, not being able to get their State pension until they are 66 or 67 and then, when they perhaps seek employment to make up the shortfall, are subject to the pension abatement criteria, which are being applied in a completely slapdash manner. This means that people who have been trained and are highly qualified cannot in essence get jobs in the public sector at present or they will see the value of their pension deducted from their employment. We therefore have the ridiculous scenario whereby officers and highly skilled people who have left the Army are working in low-pay jobs as shelf-packers in Tesco, where they can keep their pensions, instead of getting jobs in the public sector. It is an absolute joke, and I appeal to the Minister of State to examine how this is being applied.

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