Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

This amendment seeks to delete the subsection that provides that former or current Members of the Oireachtas "shall not be regarded as" members of the single scheme. The Government decided that the single scheme should extend to new or first-time Members of the Oireachtas and office-holders, including Ministers and Ministers of State. Unlike almost all other public servants, Members of the Oireachtas do not have security of tenure but are subject to the will of the electorate from time to time. There can be a considerable change in Oireachtas membership from one Dáil or Seanad to the next. The requirement to be re-elected from time to time means that Members of the Oireachtas are different from other public servants in this regard. This special factor was taken into account in the drafting of the Bill for former Members of the Oireachtas and Ministers. Accordingly, a Member of the Oireachtas who was first elected or appointed before this Bill becomes law will not be a member of the single scheme in respect of any future service as a Member of the Oireachtas. We have given this matter a great deal of consideration. It seems reasonable that a Member of the Oireachtas with many years of service who loses his or her seat should not be on a different scheme if he or she is re-elected to this House. Such a person should be able to continue with that scheme. The system that will be in place if this amendment is accepted would not be applied to any other public servant who might be fired in mid-stream and subsequently rehired. I believe our approach is reasonable.