Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 150: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if, in the context of the Good Friday Agreement she will examine the possibility of ensuring that a person (details supplied), who has split teaching experience in the public sector on both sides of the Border could have their reckonable service aggregated in order to maximise their pension entitlement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6055/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Teaching service given in Northern Ireland is not recognised for the purpose of teachers' superannuation awards in this State as there is no agreement at present between the jurisdictions on the transferability of pension entitlements. However, as the Deputy may be aware, at an Institutional Format meeting of 30 October 2007 the North/South Ministerial Council considered the issue of cross-border pensions mobility and agreed that the Joint Secretariat should convene a working group of officials from relevant Government Departments to explore options for going forward on the transfer of pension rights on a cross-border basis. That working group met in Armagh on 10 January this year and work is now being undertaken to gather evidence on difficulties experienced by teachers in moving between the jurisdictions North and South as a result of the inability to transfer pension entitlements. The working group is scheduled to reconvene in March.