Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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114. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding pensions; if he can offer any positive news for the person concerned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35769/13]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The petitioner seeks "a provision in the new Bill [sic] that pension cuts made will be reversed as pay cuts will be." In the first instance, the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2013 passed into law on the 5th of June, 2013. There is no provision in that Act that pay cuts will be reversed. However these latest pension reductions, representing as they do one of a series of legislated financial emergency measures affecting public service pay and pensions, fall to be reviewed annually by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, as provided for in section 12 of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2013. The next such review, with written report to be provided to the Houses of the Oireachtas, is due to take place no later than 30 June 2014.

It should be pointed out that the pay reductions introduced in 2010 involved reductions ranging between 5% and up to 20%, while the 1 July 2013 pay reductions (for salaries over €65,000) provided for incremental reductions in remuneration ranging between 5.5%% and 10%. In addition serving staff had their pay reduced by the Pension related Deduction (PRD) of an average of some 7% in 2009, and by its nature this reduction was not reflected in public service pensions.

The Public Service Pension Reduction (PSPR) was introduced on 1 January 2011 as a tiered reduction on public service pensions above €12,000 per annum; its effect was to reduce pensions, on average, by about 4%. From 1 January 2012, the PSPR rate on that part of a public service pension above €100,000 was increased from 12% to 20%. From 1 July 2013 the PSPR was increased and extended so that all public service pensions above €32,500 would be impacted by an additional reduction of between 2% and 5%. For most affected pensioners the impact on pension of the reduction of 1 July 2013 will be in the region of 2%.