Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As the Deputy knows, public service pension schemes, including for the Defence Forces, provide for the payment of spouses’ and children’s pensions. However, such pensions are only payable where the deceased had been a member of the relevant spouses’ and children’s scheme.

I do not want to delve too much into somebody's information but the facts of this case have been examined previously and I am advised that, unfortunately, the individual in question was not a member of the relevant Defence Forces contributory spouses’ and children’s pension scheme. Without personalising it to any individual, people have an opportunity to opt in or opt out of the original scheme and an opportunity to opt in or out of a revised scheme. I think that opportunity in regard to the revised scheme would have arisen in 1985. Out of respect to the individuals involved, I will send a more detailed note on the individual's circumstances but, more broadly, my Department would be in correspondence with anybody who has such queries and it would have provided any relevant documents that may have been filled out and showed any paperwork involved where people would have made a decision on which scheme to join or not. I do not wish my answer to sound cold because I of course have sympathy for the situation that has arisen but the factual position is that there is not a legal entitlement or, indeed, an ability to pay a spouse's pension where somebody has not opted in to such a scheme.

Membership of the original spouses’ and children’s contributory pension scheme was compulsory in the case of soldiers who enlisted after 31 January 1978 but it was optional in the case of soldiers already serving at that time. In other words, people who served before 1978 had to choose to opt in or not opt in. Soldiers already serving on 31 January 1978 were included as members of the scheme unless they made a positive option in writing not to become members. It was made clear to all such soldiers that no benefits could be paid under the scheme to their dependants and they would not be afforded an opportunity of joining the scheme at a later date. However, since then a second opportunity was granted in 1985 where people had a further opportunity to opt in.

See this speech in context