Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the support he has offered to this policy. To answer his questions, if I did not have interim arrangements in place I would be accused of having announced a policy that is not going to happen. We have to legislate to make it happen. The legislation is being drafted at the moment, and my officials are working as hard as possible to get the work done. Its appearance before the House is, of course, a matter for the Business Committee, but I am aiming to bring proposals to Government on the matter as soon as I can.

On the particular matter mentioned by the Deputy, it must be recognised that the people we are referring to have already retired. Under the interim arrangement we are announcing, the people who will be affected by this are people who have retired. They are retiring because we do not have the legislation in place. They will come back to work and still receive their pension. Under the principles of abatement, they cannot be in a place where the pension and salary they receive is cumulatively higher than what they received in the past. That is why the provision is in place that they will return to work at the minimum point of the pay scale. The rationale for this was understood by those we negotiated and discussed this matter with. I hope to be in a position to bring in the legislation so that the workers concerned are not retiring in the first place.

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