Derek McDowell (Labour)

I note the definition of "public servant" excludes five positions, namely the President, a member of the Judiciary, the Master of the High Court, a taxing master or a county registrar. Why have these five positions been excluded from the definition of public servant? There is no obvious reason for this.

Schedule 2 makes substantive amendments, running to almost five pages, to old enactments. Most pension laws date back to either Victorian times or the early days of the State. The 1980 regulations substantively amended the Victorian legislation and post-Victorian legislation. Why has it been decided to go about it in this way with this Bill? With 16 sections, the Bill is short, yet substantive amendments are listed in the Schedule, which is difficult for most of us to understand. Is there a bold or clear definition of the general retirement age? In so far as I can tell, it derives from the 1860s Acts as amended by the 1980 regulations. Without getting into the details of how one can amend a Victorian Act, which may not have survived the introduction of the Constitution on the establishment of the State, with a regulation in 1980, it is not obvious to the lay person how this comes about.

In dealing with amendments Nos. 2 and 3, the Minister of State said that the definition of a body in paragraph (g) under the definition of "public service body", set out in section 1(1), refers specifically to the Companies Acts. He suggested that there are commercial semi-State bodies to which the Act may apply. Which bodies, other than the semi-State ones excluded, are included in the definition of public servant?

Does the definition of a secretarial office set out in the Ministerial, Parliamentary and Judicial Offices and Oireachtas Members (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2001, which amended previous Acts, refer to people who hold secretarial office within the Houses of the Oireachtas? If so we could usefully spend some time teasing that out. There are people who have been working for some time in these Houses as members of staff, whether called secretaries or not, who have very unsatisfactory pension arrangements. Will the Minister of State elaborate further on this?