Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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51. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the reason for the decision to end the supplementary pension paid to military personnel commissioned after 2013 that was in place to bridge the gap from the date of their mandatory retirement to the time of receipt of the State pension; his plans to remove mandatory retirement in lieu of the decision to end the supplementary pensions for military personnel commissioned after 2013; the effect the decision to end the supplementary pensions for military personnel commissioned after 2013 will have on retention within the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32264/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The occupational pension scheme terms of post-1 January 2013 new entrants to the public service, including entrants to the Permanent Defence Force, are governed by the Public ServicePensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012. All first-time new entrants to pensionable public service employment on or after that date are members of the Single Scheme.

Under the 2012 Act, overall statutory responsibility for the Single Scheme pension terms and rules rests with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

The Single Scheme was one of the key structural reform commitments agreed by Government with the EU/IMF under the programme of financial support for Ireland. In the context of the Government’s decision to introduce the Single Scheme, a stated primary objective is to help significantly reduce the cost of public service pensions in the longer-term through far-reaching transformation and reform of the public service pension system. It provides for a new approach which modernises and standardises pension arrangements throughout the public service. The terms and rules of the Single Scheme – which are fundamentally different to the superannuation arrangements of all public servants recruited before 1 January 2013 – make no provision for the concept or award of supplementary pensions for any new entrants joining any public service group on or after 1 January 2013. This position has been confirmed to the Permanent Defence Force Representative Associations.

However, the absence of any provision for the supplementary pension concept in the Single Scheme must be viewed in the overall context of the fundamental changes and reforms to the pension scheme terms of post-2013 new entrants. Such reforms were decided by Government and the Oireachtas as necessary to support the long-term financial sustainability of the public service pension system. In that context, there are many other established features of the pre-1 January 2013 public service occupational pension arrangements that have been discontinued, or that have been fundamentally changed, under the Single Scheme.

I should also mention that Single Scheme members in the Permanent Defence Force retain the minimum pension age of 50toreflect operational needs, as already applies to new entrant military personnel recruited since April 2004. This compares with an effective raising of the minimum pension age, from 65 to 68 years, in the case of the mainstream ‘standard accrual’ membership occupations in the Single Scheme. Moreover, the 2012 Act does not alter military retirement ages for future or serving military personnel generally, or upper service limits where applicable – these will continue to be determined by the Minister for Defence, following consultation with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform .

The 2015 White Paper on Defence and the earlier 3^rdReport of the Independent Monitoring Group (IMG), reiterated the objective of ensuring an appropriate age profile for the Permanent Defence Force. A key element in military life is the need for personnel to maintain a level of fitness for combat readiness. This requirement must be balanced with the need to retain experience and expertise, particularly at managerial level in the Defence Forces. These HR and manpower policy objectives are in turn supported by concepts such as fast accrual pension arrangements, earlier mandatory retirement ages and/or minimum pension ages than the norm, upper service limits for certain ranks, and so on.

The 2015 White Paper on Defence sets the defence policy agenda for the following ten years. One of the 88 actions that have been specifically identified as part of the work being carried out to implement the White Paper, is to conduct, in the medium term, a review of HR policies in relation to recruitment, training and education, performance management, reward systems, and retention and retirement policies alongside appropriate age profiles for personnel across the Defence Forces. The question of the appropriate mandatory retirement ages for commissioned and enlisted ranks will be carefully considered by my Department in that context.

I am advised that a claim has been received from RACO seeking an increase in officer retirement ages. That matter will be the subject of discussions between the Official Side and RACO in due course under the established machinery, the Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme for Permanent Defence Force. In the meantime, there are no plans to remove mandatory retirement ages for military personnel who join the Permanent Defence Force on or after 1 January 2013, whether in enlisted or commissioned officer ranks.

There is no empirical evidence to support the theory or claim that the absence from the Single Scheme of provision for the concept or award of supplementary pensions will impact on retention levels among post-2013 new entrants to the Permanent Defence Force, whatever their rank.

Given the unique and demanding nature of military life, and the HR and manpower policy objectives outlined earlier, there is understandably a high level of turnover among Defence Forces personnel compared to other occupations. However, this is not new and pre-dates the introduction of the Single Scheme in 2013, notwithstanding the inclusion of supplementary pension arrangements in the occupational pension scheme terms of commissioned officers who joined the Permanent Defence Force from 6 April 1995 to 31 December 2012 and, indeed, enlisted personnel who did so in the period from 1 April 2004 to 31 December 2012.

In order to deal with the challenges associated with the turnover of personnel, a continuous yearly recruitment drive is operated by the Defence Forces and in 2017, it is planned to recruit 860 personnel across all services.