Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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294. To ask the Minister for Defence the reason the monthly payment date for retired army personnel pension is being changed from the 20th of each month to the 30th over a five month period; and if he has given consideration to the affect this will have on bank transaction dates such as mortgage repayments and/or other direct debit payments and considering the age profile of many of these pensioners the paperwork and stress involved in changing these payment dates. [43152/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I am advised that historically, Defence Forces pensions were paid at the end of each month in arrears and this is currently the case for those who have retired since March 2012. Payment of the pension ten days in advance on the 20th of the month was introduced some years ago to overcome banking and payroll operational restrictions. However, as a result of technology and business process improvements these restrictions no longer apply. There are underlying administrative costs, such as the costs arising from the early draw-down of funds, associated with paying Defence Forces pensions in advance on the 20th of the month. My Department fully appreciates that, in returning payment of all military pensions to the end of the month, a certain proportion of people may currently have financial, banking and bill-paying arrangements (such as standing orders, direct debits) organised around the 20th. Any inconvenience caused by this move is of course regretted, but there is an obligation on all public service bodies to reduce administrative costs to the greatest extent possible.

As part of the regular, ongoing interaction between my officials and the main military pensioner associations, this move was notified to them well in advance to get their feedback. I understand that they in turn informed their respective memberships. In that regard, the pensioner associations raised some concerns, including the timeframe for implementation of the move and the impact on banking and bill-paying transaction dates.

Insofar as the Department could, those concerns were taken on board. This included writing to all the pensioners concerned about the reasons for the move some eight weeks before the first scheduled date change on 22 November 2013, and phasing in the move over a period of six months. This is to give people sufficient time to make any necessary changes to their banking and other arrangements before the start of the move, should they wish to do so, and to ease in the change incrementally over a reasonable period. The move will be fully completed by end-April 2014. The December 2013 pension payment will be paid before the Christmas period.