Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Craughwell for his good wishes. I have become familiar with this House in recent days because I have been here a good deal.

I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, who is unable to be with us and who sends his apologies.

I thank Senator Craughwell for raising this issue. Abatement in the public service is intended to ensure that when retired public servants who are in receipt of a public service pension are reappointed to the public service, the associated pensions are reduced in order that they receive no more than the pension and pay that they would have received if they had continued to serve in their former posts.The practice of abatement goes as far back as the Superannuation Act of 1834. The principle of abatement predates the financial crisis and is not considered a financial emergency measure. The universal application of abatement was not introduced via the FEMPI legislation but rather as part of the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and other Provisions) Act 2012. With the introduction of the 2012 Act, the application of abatement was widened. Previously, abatement generally applied only where the pensioner returned to work in the same sector or scheme from which the pension was drawn. The principle of abatement was not consistent in its application across sectors. Now, following the introduction of the Act, the principle of abatement may be applicable in respect of any public service employment obtained by a public service pensioner. For example, a retired teacher going to work in a local authority, a retired Deputy securing a public service post, or a retired garda going to work in a third level college will all be subject to the principle of abatement. This extension of the principle of pension abatement to the entire public service was provided for in section 52 of the 2012 Act.

While more pensioners are, in principle, exposed to abatement under the 2012 Act, the issue of whether abatement actually occurs in an individual case, and its extent, that is, whether the pension is fully or partially abated, depends on the circumstances, and in certain scenarios no abatement will apply at all. I am satisfied that the measures taken in the 2012 Act were progressive, fair and necessary. The extension of abatement across the public service was appropriate as a modernising pension reform, and it represents a suitable and measured response to legitimate public concerns about simultaneous payment of pension and salary in the public service. In exceptional circumstances, the legislation also allows the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to remove any doubt or question arising in the application of abatement and to waive the abatement provision in limited circumstances.