Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 102: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will support the following matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31484/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Retirement lump sums for civil servants are calculated on the basis of 3/80ths of salary per year of service, subject to a maximum of 11⁄2 times the salary on which superannuation benefits are based. Under the terms of the Public Service Agreement (PSA), pay reductions which took effect in January 2010 are currently disregarded for the purposes of calculating superannuation benefits. Accordingly, the salary on which benefits are based may currently exceed the actual salary payable at the time of retirement. A Secretary General who reaches the end of his or her contract before age 60 may be allowed the option of early retirement with immediate payment of pension and enhanced terms. These consist of an award of up to 10 added years, subject to certain conditions, and a special severance gratuity of six months salary on the terms specified in sections 6 and 7 of the Superannuation and Pensions Act, 1963. These terms are subject to the application of special abatement provisions if the Secretary General concerned subsequently obtains employment in the public sector.

Since 1 July 2005, 3 Secretaries General, 1 Second Secretary General and 4 Assistant Secretaries retired from my Department. A total of €2,092,755 was paid in lump sums and €386,478 was paid in special severance gratuities. In one case, the person retired under the Incentivised Scheme of Early Retirement and his lump sum represented 10% of the salary on which the superannuation benefits were based. Under that scheme the balance of lump sum is payable when the officer reaches the age at which preserved benefits would normally be payable. In the remaining cases, retirement lump sums ranged from 137% to 150% of the salary on which superannuation benefits are based. This includes one retirement to which the PSA arrangements referred to above apply.

Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 103: To ask the Minister for Finance the total numbers of persons on the public pay roll for the years 2007, 2008, 2009 and to date in 2010 in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31497/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Public Service numbers reported to my Department for the period 2007 to 2009 and for the end of the first quarter in 2010 are set out in the following table.

* Note that the above figures are on a whole-time equivalent basis, and are subject to revisions reflecting methodological changes and updated information regarding numbers in particular sectors.

These staff numbers include public servants whose pay is not in all cases funded directly by the Exchequer. The largest category of these is Local Authority employees but there are also staff in some Non-Commercial State Agencies whose pay is funded from the own resources of these bodies.