Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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204. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his views on the concerns of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 20, and the changes in the financial emergency measures in the public interest legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39131/15]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I note the concerns raised in relation to the continued application of the Public Service Pension Reduction (PSPR) to pensions in payment to retired public servants. These concerns have also been articulated by the Alliance of Retired Public Servants and both I and my officials have met with representatives of the Alliance on a regular basis. In response to concerns raised in 2013, I undertook to ease the burden of the PSPR as early as economic and fiscal circumstances allowed me to do so, with a focus on benefitting impacted lower-income pensions proportionately more. The PSPR amelioration proposals outlined in the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest 2015 Bill deliver on this commitment to address the continuing burden of PSPR on public service pensioners.

Under measures announced in mid-2015, and as contained in the Financial Emergency in the Public Interest Bill 2015, the Government is now proposing, to commence on 1 January 2016, a phased and partial restoration of the public service pay and pension cuts imposed under the financial emergency legislation. In specific terms, the Bill's PSPR provisions will deliver part-restoration of the PSPR cuts in three stages effective from 1 January 2016, 1 January 2017 and 1 January 2018. When fully rolled-out from 1 January 2018, this means that all public service pensions in payment with pre-PSPR values of up to €34,132 will be fully exempt from PSPR, while those pensioners not fully removed from the reach of PSPR will, in general, benefit by €1,680 per year. This represents a major amelioration of the PSPR burden over a multi-year time horizon, at the end of which the great majority of public service pensioners, with the exception of those on the higher levels of pension income, will no longer be affected by PSPR.

The eventual full-year estimated cost of these proposals with respect to public service pensions is about €90 million, which represents a restoration of approximately two-third's of the impact on pensions of PSPR. This  significant level of restoration compares very favourably, in proportionate terms, with the proposed salary and PRD restoration to serving public servants.