Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 177: To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that widows who returned to the public service post 1995 are treated less favourably for pension purposes than widows who returned pre-1995 despite having the same years service, as result of the introduction of co-ordinated pensions in the public service and his plans to remove this anomaly. [9146/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Prior to 1974 female officers were generally required to resign on marriage and, depending on their service, 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, preserving benefits if they wish to leave, 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 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 in that, post-retirement, they would not be entitled to claim a second social welfare pension, e.g. widow's contributory pension. No such implications exist for officers reappointed to the service before 6 April 1995 by virtue of the fact that, since their full pension entitlements are met from the occupational scheme alone, the issue of a second social welfare pension does not arise. Questions relating to the Social Welfare code and the payment of Social Welfare benefits, referred to above, are a matter for the Minister for Social and Family Affairs.