Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 206: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will define in detail a public service body in the context of existing and the new single scheme public service pension schemes legislation. [2490/12]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The terms of the proposed single public service pension scheme are set out in the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme) and Remuneration Bill 2011, which was published last September. The Bill defines public service body as comprising the Civil Service, the Garda Síochána, the Permanent Defence Force, local authorities, the Health Service Executive, the Central Bank of Ireland (subject to the agreement of the Governor of that Bank), educational institutions, the non-commercial State bodies where a public service pension scheme exists or applies or may be made, and any other publicly funded body where a public service pension scheme exists or applies or may be made.

The definition is set out in full in section 5 of the Single Scheme Bill. This definition from the Single Scheme Bill is substantially the same as has been used in recent public service pension legislation, including the Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004, which increased new-joiner pension age by five years, the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009, which introduced the public service pension-related deduction, and the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2010 which introduced the Public Service Pension Reduction. Commercial State bodies are not included in the definition of public service body for the purposes of public service pensions legislation. These excluded bodies are listed in the Schedule to the Single Scheme Bill.