Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 68: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will enforce sections 6 and 7 of the Superannuation and Pensions Act 1963 and rescind special severance gratuity payments and added years awarded to existing senior civil servants such as Secretaries General and county managers on their retirement. [28630/11]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Sections 6 and 7 of the Superannuation and Pensions Act 1963 provide for added years and severance for retiring civil servants in certain circumstances. They are discretionary and are only applied in the context of effecting efficiency and economy in the organisation. In the case of retiring Secretaries General, the enhanced retirement terms only apply where the individual has not been appointed to another post in the Civil or Public Service or in an international body.

A Secretary General is appointed for a fixed term which, as a result of the individual's age at the date of appointment, expires before age 65, and in many cases before age 60. In circumstances where an individual is obliged to retire at the end of his/her term and before age 65, a severance payment and enhanced retirement benefits may be granted, subject to certain conditions, in recognition of the fact that the individual has foregone the right to continue in employment to age 65 and accrue further pension benefits. These terms are designed to encourage younger people to apply for such posts who might otherwise wish to continue working until age 65.

The terms which have been approved on the appointment of Secretaries General will be honoured by this Government. These terms provide for a reassignment of the officer or the granting of superannuation terms in line with 1987 Government decision. I am conducting a full review of the TLAC terms in the context of new appointees as Secretary General. I would add that I have just published the new Single Public Service Pension Scheme Bill. This will provide for pension calculation on the basis of career-average. No enhancement of superannuation benefits will be applicable in the case of Single Scheme members in the future.

The Superannuation and Pensions Act 1963 does not cover the superannuation position of County Managers, whose terms are dealt with in section 78 of the Local Government (Superannuation) (Consolidation) Amendment Scheme 1998, as amended by Section 23 of the Local Government (Superannuation) (Consolidation) Amendment Scheme 2007 and made pursuant to section 47 of the Local Government Act 1991. This legislation is the responsibility of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 69: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the measures contained within the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme) and Remuneration Bill that will end the culture of excessively high pension pay outs to senior civil servants. [28631/11]

Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 74: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his views that the culture of excessively high pension pay outs to senior civil and public servants will be ended by the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme) and Remuneration Bill. [28638/11]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 69 and 74 together.

The cost-saving features of the proposed Single Scheme which will be most effective in reducing the value of the pension packages of senior civil servants, by comparison with current arrangements, are the switch to a career-average calculation method, and the adoption of inflation-linkage for both in-service benefit indexation and subsequent post-retirement pension increases.

Many senior civil and public servants experience several promotions over the course of a full career, with final pay potentially being a high multiple of starting pay. It can be expected that the pension benefits of public servants with this kind of career profile will be considerably lower under the Single Scheme than under current arrangements: this prospective reduction in benefit value will be attributable in particular to the switch to career-average calculation of benefits.