Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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70. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the efforts that have been made to incorporate retired public servants into the wider public pay discussions; if there are legislative reasons trade unions cannot represent retired public servants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49185/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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There is no formal mechanism to include recipients of public service pensions within the industrial relations framework and pay determination processes in the public service.

However, I can inform the Deputy that the interests and concerns of public service pensioners have been regularly articulated in meetings between the Alliance of Retired Public Servants and my Department. This engagement has also included meetings between the Alliance, myself and my predecessor. Through that process of engagement, I believe that public service pensioners have had, and continue to be afforded, a meaningful and direct means of articulating their concerns in relation to pensions and related issues. 

I would point out too that over the past number of years there have been notable pension improvements for many public service pensioners.

First, pensions in payment are benefiting significantly from the substantial reversal of the cuts to public service pensions above specified thresholds which were originally imposed by way of the Public Service Pension Reduction (PSPR) under the FEMPI legislation.

Second, as part of the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018 – 2020, the Government agreed a time-limited, conditions bound, return to the non-statutory, pay-linked method of pension adjustment which prevailed until the onset of the financial emergency. To that end, in January this year, my Department issued DPER Circular 02/2018 authorizing pension increases to qualifying public service pensions of the pay increases covering the 2018 to 2020 period under the PSSA, as legislated for in the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017.

In conclusion, I can assure the Deputy that I and my Department are fully committed to maintaining the well-established dialogue with the Alliance of Retired Public Servants. Through ongoing recourse to that dialogue process, I believe that retired public servants and their representatives can be confident that their pension concerns will receive full and proper consideration as they have done in the past.