Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 323: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if employees of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service are public servants, the reason they have always paid into a private pension; if the pension is taken over by the public service, the changes that will occur; if employees will still have the benefits of their contributory pension as well as the public service pension; if the pension is taken over by the public service, will the employees still have to pay a pension contribution; as public servants, the reason the Department of Finance has not taken the pension levy that the IBTS staff have paid since March 2009; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that when the pension levy was introduced the employees were informed they were not eligible to contribute to it; the position of employees with eight years or less employment with the IBTS in the calculation of pensionable salaries if they are taken into a public service pension system; the reason it has taken since March 2009 to find out what pension staff should be paying into; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12697/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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The Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) is a statutory body under the aegis of my Department. A contributory funded pension scheme, sponsored by the employer, was set up for employees in 1963. The Irish Blood Transfusion Service is a public service body as defined in the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act, 2009 and consequently its employees are public servants within the terms of that Act. The pension scheme in place comes under the scope of a public service pension scheme as defined in section 1 of the Act 'provided for under an administrative measure to like effect as the Superannuation Acts'. The pension related deduction is required to be remitted to the Exchequer in all cases.

Officials from both my Department and the Department of Finance met with the Irish Blood Transfusion Service some weeks ago at the behest of the employer to discuss the scheme and its fund.The issue of future pension provision for IBTS employees is currently under consideration by both Departments.