Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 594: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her proposals to allow primary teachers, who have not opted to pay a widow, widower and orphans pension contribution in the past, to take up that option; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31939/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The position is that the Government has decided that all members of the national teachers' and secondary teachers' superannuation schemes in service on 31 March 2004 should be given the option of joining the revised spouses' and children's contributory pension scheme. This decision was taken following a recommendation of the joint union and management working group which considered the introduction of pension reforms arising from the work of the Commission on Public Service Pensions.

The revised scheme provides pension benefits for the spouse and children of the member and unlike the original scheme, includes provision for the spouse of a member who marries after retirement, for the children of a member which are born after the member's retirement and for non-marital children. Persons in pensionable service between 31 March 2004 and 31 August 2005 will have the option of joining the revised scheme or of retaining their existing status. This includes those teachers still in service who, on the introduction of the original scheme, opted not to join at that time.

Membership of the revised scheme will be mandatory for persons who commence teaching in primary, secondary, community and comprehensive schools on or after 1 September 2005. Membership will also be mandatory for persons who return to teach on or after that date and who were not in pensionable teaching service at any time during the period from 31 March 2004 to 31 August 2005. The contribution rates for teachers who opt to join the revised scheme, having been members of the original scheme, will remain unchanged at 1.5% of ongoing pay, together with, where the teacher is married at retirement, 1% of pay at retirement in respect of pre-entry service, that is, service given before the introduction of the original scheme. Contributions at the 1% rate may also be payable at retirement by a teacher who is not married at that time but has been married at some stage since the introduction of the original scheme.

In line with the recommendations of the joint union and management working group, increased contributions will be payable by teachers who join the revised scheme, having previously opted not to join the original scheme: the contribution rates will be 2% of ongoing pay, together with, where the teacher is married at retirement, 1.5% of pay at retirement in respect of pre-entry service, that is, service given before the introduction, from 1 April 2004, of the revised scheme. Contributions at the 1.5% rate may also be payable at retirement by a teacher who is not married at that time but has been married at some stage since the introduction, from 1 April 2004, of the revised scheme.

A detailed circular setting out the arrangements for the introduction of the revised scheme, including the contribution conditions, issued to schools earlier this year, that is, to secondary schools in May and to primary schools in June. Arrangements are now being made to issue individual option forms to some 47,000 teachers and it is expected that the teachers concerned will receive the option forms before the end of November. Teachers will have until 31 March 2006 to exercise their options.