Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 258: To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that widows who left the Civil Service under the marriage ban who now rejoin are being confined to the post 1995 pension arrangements; and if he will grant them the pre-1995 terms which was available to their contemporaries who rejoined earlier. [31629/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Prior to 1974 female officers were generally required to resign on marriage and received a marriage gratuity in lieu of any pension benefits. Following the abolition of the marriage bar, any officer appointed before 1974 has the option of resigning within two years of marriage and receiving a marriage gratuity or of remaining in employment.

Officers who received a marriage gratuity and who are subsequently reappointed in an established capacity in the Civil Service may refund the gratuity and have all prior service aggregated with subsequent service for superannuation purposes.

Under current arrangements, where the reappointment takes place after 6 April 1995 (the date of the introduction of Class A1 Pay Related Social Insurance contributions for civil servants) then all service, including prior service is treated as post 1995 service and superannuation benefits are calculated to reflect the integration of occupational benefits with the State social welfare payments. An officer appointed or reappointed to the service before 6 April 1995 is subject, as a general rule, to Class B1 PRSI contributions and their full pension entitlements are met from the occupational scheme alone.

The Social Welfare code does not allow a person to claim two Social Welfare pensions at the same time. This has implications for staff reappointed to the civil service after 1995, who prior to their reappointment were already in receipt of a Social Welfare pension (e.g. Widows Contributory Pension) as the Old Age Pension can not be paid in addition to other Social Welfare entitlements. This specific issue is the subject of an Internal Disputes Resolution Process and I expect the case to come before me, for determination, in the near future.