Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

620. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans to discontinue the public service pension reduction; and if so, when will it be discontinued. [13011/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Public Service Pension Reduction (PSPR), which was introduced on 1 January 2011, is a progressively structured imposition on public service pensions under terms set out in the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) Act 2010, as amended. 

The PSPR burden on pensioners, which was increased for higher income pensioners from July 2013 under FEMPI 2013, is now being significantly alleviated under FEMPI 2015. This substantial part-reversal of PSPR is proceeding in three stages over the period 2016 to 2018; when complete on 1 January 2018 it will mean that most public service pensioners are not affected by PSPR. All public service pensions with pre-PSPR values of up to €34,132 will be fully exempt from PSPR from then on, while those pensioners not fully removed from the reach of PSPR will, in the majority of cases, benefit by €1,680 per year.

That FEMPI 2015-driven amelioration of PSPR for pensioners is proportionately more substantial than the FEMPI 2015 income gains for serving public servants. In addition, the PSPR measure itself, both at launch time in 2011 and following rate increases in 2013 (under FEMPI 2013), has impacted less severely on pensioners than have the comparable FEMPI measures (pay cuts and PRD) on serving staff.

Any additional changes in the PSPR will be considered in the context of any further considerations in relation to the amendment of the FEMPI Acts.