Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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133. To ask the Minister for Finance the status of a levy and retired staff (details supplied) of the Electricity Supply Board; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2776/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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It is not the case, as suggested in the details supplied, that any part of the stamp duty levies on private pension funds will be due for payment in 2016. The payment date for the final part of the final 0.15% levy was the 25^thof September 2015.

In the details supplied it is suggested that the State should return money collected through the levies "in line with the return of money to retired public servants". While public service pensions are not fund-based and so have not been subject to the pension fund levies, serving and retired public servants have been subject to the Pension Related Deduction (PRD) and Public Service Pension Reduction (PSPR) as appropriate, reducing, respectively, salaries and pension payments. While changes to the PRD and PSPR are proposed to  start from this year which will result in reductions in the PRD and the PSPR, particularly affecting public servants on low and middle incomes and retired public servants in receipt of low pensions, there is no provision for the repayment of PRD or PSPR deductions which have already been made.

It is not necessary, as suggested, to rescind the legislation which enabled the levies as it is explicitly time-bound and no longer applies.