Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 80: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the legal instrument which allows a distinction to be drawn on the application of the pension levy for employees of voluntary bodies with pension schemes on the basis of whether or not those voluntary bodies receive funding for core Health Service Executive services or non core HSE services; and if she will set out the position in respect of bodies who receive funding for both core and non core HSE services. [8550/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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Section 1 of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act, 2009 states that a "public service body" includes:

(i) a body (other than a body specified or referred to in the Schedule) that is wholly or partly funded directly or indirectly out of money provided by the Oireachtas or from the Central Fund or the growing produce of that Fund and in respect of which a public service pension scheme exists or applies or may be made,

This section covers service providers covered by section 38 of the Health Act 2004. In such cases employees are considered public sector employees; the employer adheres to public sector pay scales and numbers and employees have access to public sector pension schemes as defined in the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009.

However the above section does not cover bodies that are grant-aided by HSE under section 39 of the Health Act 2004. Employees of such bodies are not public sector employees and therefore do not have access to public sector pension schemes as defined in the Act. The pension related deduction therefore does not apply therein.

The Department of Finance, as the sponsoring Department of the legislation, makes the final decision in any case where there is ambiguity or uncertainty about the status of a body for the purposes of this legislation.