James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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105. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the position regarding affording retired soldiers a pay rise; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50225/18]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The position is that the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA) 2018-2020 provides for a series of increases in basic pay for public servants, including 1% from 1 January 2018 and a further 1% from 1 October 2018. The PSSA also sets out the policy on public service pension increases as adopted by Government for the duration of that agreement to end-2020, whereby some public service pensions qualify to be increased on foot of those pay increases.

Due to the 2010 public service pay cuts and the ‘grace period’ protections associated with those reductions, former public servants who retired before 1 March 2012 have their pensions based on higher ‘pre-cut’ salary levels. This has led to the situation whereby those who retired since 1 March 2012, on a like-for-like basis, generally receive lower pensions than their counterparts who retired before them.

Under Section 6.2 of the PSSA, a guiding principle of current pension increase policy is the need to adopt an equitable approach whereby those who retired since 1 March 2012 first ‘catch up’ with their counterparts who retired before them on higher pension rates. The policy out to end-2020 also provides that the benefit of the PSSA pay increases will be passed on to qualifying pre-March 2012 pensioners, but only where the pensions of those who retired since March 2012 with analogous retiring rank, pensionable service etc. have moved ahead of their pre-March 2012 retirees.

In effect, for pensions payable under ‘pre-2013’ public service pension schemes including the Defence Forces (i.e. pre-Single Pension Scheme), current policy means a limited resumption of the pre-FEMPI non-statutory ‘pay parity’ model, under which pension rates rose in line with pay increases.

As regards military pensioners who retired since 1 March 2012, I am advised that, generally speaking, the benefit of the recent pay increases including the 1% from 1 January 2018 and 1% from 1 October 2018 under the PSSA has now been passed on (with arrears) to those concerned, including any associated dependants. A small residual number of qualifying pensioners will get the benefit with their December 2018 monthly pension.