Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 138: To ask the Minister for Finance his policy on the employment in the public sector of former employees who have left the service through redundancy or retirement; the number of former public sector workers who have been re-employed whether on contract or on a temporary basis; the grade they previously held; if they are re-employed on the equivalent grade; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11761/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

It is a general condition of the Incentivised Scheme of Early Retirement (ISER) that persons availing of this Scheme will not be eligible for re-employment in the same part of the public service. In order to ensure compliance with the provisions of the form of acceptance, Departments and other Public Service employers must inquire of relevant future job applicants if they have availed of the terms of this Scheme. If the person was formerly in the Civil Service and availed of the ISER, s/he is ineligible for subsequent re-employment in the Civil Service. Similar restrictions apply elsewhere in the Public Service. However, if the person retired from another area of the Public Service under a similar ISER and is subsequently employed in a Civil Service Department, that Department must inform the person's former employer to this effect. The former employer will abate the pension so that s/he receives no more by way of pension and salary than the pay s/he would have received had s/he remained in the former employment. (In the event that the pay in the new employment equals or exceeds that of the former employment, the pension will cease.) This abatement will apply until the employee reaches the maximum pension age under the former employer's pension scheme (my Department's Circular 12/2009 refers). There is provision for staff to be re-employed in the same area in exceptional circumstances (e.g. in the case of a staff member with specialist skills who might be permitted to be re-engaged for a very limited period – again subject to abatement of pension).

In the case of the HSE's more recent Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) scheme, those who availed of that scheme are not eligible for re-employment in the Public Service as the terms and conditions provide for an absolute prohibition on re-employment in the Public Service (the Department of Health & Children Circular 07/2010 refers). Those who availed of the HSE's recent Voluntary Redundancy (VR) Scheme (also covered by Circular 07/2010) are not eligible for re-employment in the Public Service for 7 years, following which the specific consent of the Minister for Finance is required for applications for re-employment. The restrictions also apply to re-employment on a contract for service basis in respect of all schemes.

Information is not held centrally on the former employment status of all public service employees. It would not therefore be possible to provide the specific details sought by the Deputy.