Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 378: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if a disability payment from the Department of Social and Family Affairs is taken into consideration in the payment of an early retirement pension awarded to a spouse; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12831/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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It is a requirement of the EU Council regulations under which the 1994 and 2000 early retirement schemes were introduced that the early retirement pension must be reduced by the amount of any national retirement pension to which the participant and his or her spouse or partner in a joint management arrangement may be entitled. However, disability allowance and disability benefit are not classified as national retirement pensions and are not subject to this requirement.

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 379: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the social welfare payments which are excluded from ERS pension being awarded to a spouse; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12832/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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It is a requirement of the EU Council regulations under which the 1994 and 2000 early retirement schemes were introduced that the early retirement pension can be paid only as a supplement to any national retirement pension to which the participant and his or her spouse or partner in a joint management arrangement is entitled. This means that the value of any such national retirement pension payable must be deducted from the early retirement pension.

It has been determined in consultation with the European Commission that the following pensions are national retirement pensions: old age contributory pension; old age non-contributory pension; widow-widower's contributory pension at age 66; widow-widower's non-contributory pension at age 66; retirement pension; invalidity pension; and blind person's pension.

A national retirement pension may comprise a personal allowance, an adult dependant allowance, child dependant allowances and a living alone allowance. The total amount payable constitutes the national retirement pension as a spouse and children do not have independent entitlement to the pension. Therefore, it is the total amount of the national retirement pension that must be deducted from the early retirement pension and not just the personal rate.

Other payments from the Department of Social and Family Affairs such as disability allowance and disability benefit are not regarded as being national retirement pensions and are, therefore, not deducted from the early retirement pension.