Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 255: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will liaise with the Department of Social and Family Affairs concerning a particular sector of people (details supplied). [17150/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am fully conscious of the enormous contribution that missionaries and volunteer development workers have made to Irish development work. This is reflected in the significant level of Irish Aid funding to civil society organisations and the large increases in funding to the Irish Missionary Resource Service (IMRS). This year, Irish Aid will provide funding of €20m in support of IMRS.

Responsibility for pension protection rests with the Department of Social and Family Affairs. However, the protection of the interests of missionaries and overseas development workers is a matter of real concern to me.

The issue of pension provision for overseas development workers and missionaries is a particularly complex one. The position of the Department of Social and Family Affairs is that any proposal to pay the State Pension (Non-Contributory) to missionaries who are Irish citizens living outside the State would set an unacceptable precedent and would break EU pension regulations. As far as Irish Aid's own funds are concerned, our position is that a pension provision, in any form, for retired missionaries living overseas could not be considered as overseas development assistance.

Nevertheless, my Department continues to be in contact on a regular basis with the Department of Social and Family Affairs and Comhlámh, the organisation which acts on behalf of returned development workers, regarding the issue of pension provision. Options to expand the Volunteer Development Worker scheme have been examined and consideration is currently being given to a new scheme, which has been proposed by the Department of Social and Family Affairs, which might help address this issue in the future.