Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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383. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the body that pays the shortfall in transfer value in circumstances in which the benefits accruing to a member of a pension scheme in a public service transfer network organisation have been reduced on foot of a section 50 direction with the effect that the transfer value paid by the transferring organisation is reduced but the amount of transfer value payable in respect of that member by the receiving organisation must still reflect the full period of service in the organisation they are being transferred from. [27730/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Public Sector Transfer Network allows employees to transfer service from one member organisation to another. The legislative provision for this is Section 4 of the Superannuation and Pensions Act 1963.  It provides for the transfer of pensionable service in the case of staff transfers between the Civil Service and "approved organisations", and between one "approved organisation" and another. The Act provides that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform may, by Statutory Instrument, designate an organisation as an "approved organisation" for the purpose of that Section.  Membership of the Transfer network is entirely voluntary and organisations may, if they wish, apply to join provided they have a pension scheme which would be considered compatible with Public Service pension arrangements and could comply with the rules of the Transfer Network. 

Section 50 of the Pensions act 1990 applies to funded pension schemes and provides a mechanism whereby once a fund is in difficulty it can reduce the amount of transfer value it will pay in respect of transfers out of the fund. This method is primarily aimed at transfers between two funded schemes with the reduced benefits moving to the new fund and the individual suffers any loss.

In the public service transfer network (PSTN) transfers from funded schemes are processed using what is known as a 16(d) transfer. In a 16(d) case the transfer value is calculated in accordance with the actuarial tables provided for under the PSTN. The PSTN has no mechanism for accepting transfers at less than full value.