Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

291. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the key changes which were made to the Civil Service widow's and orphan's superannuation scheme since the early 1980s; the rationale for those changes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34013/15]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In general, all civil servants are members of a superannuation Main Scheme, and a large proportion are also members of an associated Spouses' and Children's Pension Scheme.  The Main Scheme covers pension entitlements (where eligible) for the member only; the Spouses' and Children's Pension Scheme covers entitlements for the spouse and children of a member.

As schemes were introduced, membership was optional for staff serving at the time, but, in general, membership of main schemes and Spouses and Children's schemes are now compulsory. There are two Main Schemes in the civil service - the Superannuation Scheme for Established Civil Servants and the Superannuation Scheme for Non-established State Employees.  

Within the Established Scheme, there are non-contributory members (generally appointed before 6 April 1995) and contributory members (generally appointed on or after 6 April 1995).  Within the Non-Established Scheme all members are non-contributory and the pension is 'co-ordinated' with the social insurance old age contributory pension.

There are two separate Spouses' and Children's Pension Schemes, one for Established Staff and one for Non-Established Staff.  Within each Scheme there are two further categories (i) the Original Scheme and (ii) the Revised Scheme.  For Established Staff the Original Scheme was introduced for male staff in 1968 and for female staff in 1981, and the Revised Scheme was introduced for all staff in 1984.  For Non-Established Staff the Original Scheme was introduced for male staff in 1978 and the Revised Scheme was introduced in 1986, at which time membership was extended to female staff.  

When the Original Scheme was introduced, all eligible staff serving at the time of its introduction were given an option to join.  When the Revised Scheme was introduced it replaced the Original Scheme and applied automatically to all people recruited after its introduction.  Again, all eligible staff serving at the time of the introduction of the Revised Scheme were given an option to join (regardless of whether they had been members of the Original Scheme).  Therefore, depending on the date of appointment, and depending also on any membership options the employee may have exercised in the past, an employee may be a member of the Original or the Revised Scheme or of neither.  

The main differences between the Original and the Revised Scheme are that the revised scheme covers marriages after retirement (the original scheme did not) and a broader category of eligible children. Where a member was unmarried at the time of retirement, the original scheme provided for a refund of some or all the contributions paid by that member.

The Civil Partnership and Certain Rights of Co-habitants Act, 2010 extended the definition of a spouse to include civil partner and the Marriage Equality Bill 2015, when enacted, will give effect to the recent referendum on marriage equality.