Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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169. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the estimated number of persons in the single pension scheme for public servants; the number under each Department for the latest available date; if all aspects of the scheme are now in place; his plans to review the contributions to the scheme and the actuarial position in view of, among other factors, the finding by the Public Service Pay Commission that the value provided by public service employers to single scheme members is on a par with private sector direct contribution, DC, schemes; and when benefit statements will be provided to scheme members. [48971/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Since its commencement on 1 January 2013, the Single Scheme has been the default pension scheme for new-recruit personnel across all sectors of the Irish public service, including civil servants.

My Department undertakes an annual census of Single Scheme members across the public service at the end of each year. The last annual census undertaken was for the year ended 31 December 2016 and this noted some 64,000 persons were enrolled as members of the Single Scheme at that time. This number includes significant numbers of temporary staff, not all of whom would have remained in post subsequent to 31 December 2016. A breakdown of total membership advised by relevant authorities to my Department at 31 December 2016 is outlined in the table.

The Single Scheme is administered principally at workplace level by each individual public service body (termed a relevant authority) to which the Scheme applies. The discharging of key member-facing responsibilities, including the issue of annual benefit statements, rests with each relevant authority under the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012

The Scheme is of course subject to ongoing monitoring by my Department, as is the operation of the 2012 Act more generally.  Recognising the complexities involved in this career-average Scheme, a Single Scheme Administration Project unit was established within my Department in 2016. A range of actions are in train to support more effective operation of the Scheme by all relevant authorities.

In relation to actuarial considerations, Section 41 of the 2012 Act provides that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform can initiate an actuarial review of the Scheme. I have no immediate plans for the carrying out of such a review, bearing in mind in particular that the Single Scheme is in place for less than five years, which is a relatively short time in pension terms.

Following an analysis in early 2017 of overall public service pension entitlements by the Public Service Pay Commission, and in recognition of the more moderately scaled career-average based pension benefits in prospect for Single Scheme members, the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020 proposed that the Additional Superannuation Contribution (ASC) to be applied in place at the of the Pension-Related Deduction (PRD) for public servants, should be set at a lower level for Single Scheme members. The Public Service Pay & Pensions Bill 2017 sets out the lower percentage rates of ASC that will apply to members of the Single Scheme from 1 January 2019 compared to members of other public service pension schemes, with a further reduction for these members provided for under this Bill from 1 January 2020.

Single Public Service Pension Scheme