Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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176. To ask the Minister for Finance if matters raised by a person (details supplied) in relation to an allowance will receive a response; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51804/21]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by Revenue that Clerical Officers who were on Career Break on 1 January 2003 are not eligible to receive the Annual Personal to Holder (APTH) payment. This is because they were not serving in Revenue on 1 January 2003 (Integration Day), the designated date by reference to which eligibility for payment of the APTH was determined.

The background is that following an extensive industrial relations negotiation process in 2002/2003, widespread communication and staff engagement, agreement was reached on the rationalisation and integration of General Service and Departmental Taxes grading structures in Revenue. Arising from the agreement, 1 January 2003 was designated as Integration Day and as of that date, Departmental Taxes grades were ceased, the individuals who were serving in those grades took on the duties and conditions of service of the equivalent General Service grades; and they were re-certified by the Civil Service Commission to General Service grades.

As part of the Integration Agreement, a promotion/upgrading process was agreed and those individuals who were serving in Revenue on Integration Day and were not successful in the process, were instead awarded an Annual Personal to Holder Payment (APTH), an allowance paid on a personal-to-holder basis, in addition to the existing salary point on an incremental scale, for as long as the person remains in that grade. Revenue staff who are still in receipt of an APTH are those who met the criteria above and who currently serve in the same grade in which they served on Integration Day, 1 January 2003. However, staff who were recruited or transferred into Revenue, or who returned from Career Break after Integration Day were not, and are not, eligible for the APTH payment.

Revenue confirms that an extensive review was carried out by the appropriate Personnel Officer at the request of the individual in question. A comprehensive reply issued directly to the individual in question on 19 November 2020, explaining why an APTH is not payable in this specific case.