Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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42. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he has had discussions with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform regarding use of the provisions of section 15 of the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012 to address the issues arising for post-2013 Defence Forces personnel in relation to the gap between early retirement and the State pension age; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25049/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I take it that the Deputy is referring to the absence of the concept of ‘supplementary pensions’ from the provisions of the Single Public Service Pension Scheme.

The occupational pension scheme terms of post-1 January 2013 new entrants to the public service, including the Permanent Defence Force (PDF), are governed by the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012. The terms and rules of the Single Scheme – which are fundamentally different to previous superannuation public service arrangements – make no provision for the concept or award of ‘supplementary pensions’ for any new entrants joining any public service group from 1 January 2013 onwards.

I have not had discussions with my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform regarding the question of using the provisions of section 15 of the 2012 Act to address the matter of ‘supplementary pensions’. Under the 2012 Act, overall statutory responsibility for the Single Scheme pension terms and conditions comes under the remit of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the appropriateness or otherwise of the application of that particular provision would of course be a matter for that Minister and his Department.

I understand that the situation regarding ‘supplementary pensions’ has previously been confirmed by the Official Side, which includes the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, to the Defence Forces Representative Associations. They were advised by DPER officials in October 2017 that – given the overriding policy and fiscal objectives of the Single Scheme – there were no plans to provide for the supplementary pension concept in that Scheme.

Since then, the issue has of course featured very prominently in discussions under the established machinery between the Official Side and the Representative Side. This includes discussions at the Defence Forces Conciliation Council, at the negotiations on the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-20, in RACO’s submissions to the Public Service Pay Commission, and again in RACO’s recent submission to the Commission on the Defence Forces.

The then Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, met with RACO in September 2019 and the matter was discussed. Later, at the 2019 RACO Annual Delegate Conference, the then Minister with responsibility for Defence advised RACO that he had arranged with the then Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform for officials to meet with RACO to discuss this matter in early 2020. Due to unforeseen circumstances including Covid-19, the meeting did not take place until 30th September 2020. At that meeting, I understand the DPER officials re-stated their Department’s position that supplementary pensions are inconsistent with the terms of the Single Pension Scheme Act 2012; and that there are no plans to review the Act.