Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 289: To ask the Minister for Social Protection notwithstanding the Civil Service circular No. 28, if she will provide a list of the current pay of each senior civil servant from higher executive officer to Secretary General in her Department broken down by grade; the pension entitlements of each and any other emoluments they are entitled to receive upon reaching retirement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26242/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The information requested is not readily available and given the pressure of work in my Department and the volume of staff involved, it would not be possible to give the information requested for each individual member of staff.

The following table provides a breakdown of the number of staff in each grade from Higher Executive Officer to Secretary General. The pay scale appropriate to each officer is in line with the officer's service and the terms and conditions of employment as provided for in Department of Finance Circular 28/2009.

Pension entitlements are calculated as follows:

Pension Calculation for staff recruited before 6 April 1995:

The method of calculation of pension for pre-6 April 95 staff (who pay the modified rate of PRSI) is 1/80th of pensionable remuneration per year of reckonable service, subject to a maximum of 40 years.

Pension Calculation for staff recruited after 5 April 1995:

The method of calculating Main Scheme pension for officers recruited on or after 6 April 1995 who qualify for benefits on or after 1 January 2004 is:

(a) For that part of the officer's pensionable remuneration which is less than or equal to 3 and one third times the current rate of Contributory State Pension (CSP), 1/200th of pensionable remuneration multiplied by the number of years of reckonable service plus

(b) For any part of the officer's Pensionable Remuneration which exceeds 3 and one third times CSP, 1/80th of pensionable remuneration multiplied by the number of years of reckonable service. A multiplier of 3.333333 (i.e. 6 decimal places) is used to calculate 3 and one third times CSP. The maximum number of years of reckonable service is 40. The CSP rate is the maximum CSP payable by the Department of Social and Family Affairs to a single person without dependants on the last day of the officer's pensionable service.

Retirement Lump Sum Calculation:

Retirement lump sum is 3/80ths of pensionable remuneration for each year of reckonable service, subject to a maximum of 1.5 times pensionable remuneration.

Emoluments payable to officers on their retirement are dealt with as follows:

PENSIONABLE EMOLUMENTS Emoluments are benefits in cash or in kind which are additional to basic salary. Pensionable emoluments are the average annual amount of an officer's emoluments. The pensionable allowances are the best three consecutive years in the last ten.

Generally speaking, pensionable emoluments are:

(a) allowances for the performance of work done (e.g. higher duties allowance, Private Secretaries' allowance);

(b) allowances for the conditions under which work is done (e.g. shift premia, unsocial hours allowances);

(c) in certain exceptional cases, specifically approved by the Department of Finance, payments for compulsory, regular and rostered extra attendance which forms an inherent part of the conditions of service for certain posts and where such attendance is considered to be the most effective and economical means of carrying out the work involved;

(d) the value (as determined by the Department of Finance) of certain perquisites provided free as part of an officer's conditions of employment (e.g. house, quarters, fuel and light, board and lodgings, uniforms).