Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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111. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will respond to correspondence (details supplied) in respect of a prison officer retirement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8958/23]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware, I have overall policy responsibility in relation to public service occupational pension schemes payable to retired public servants.

Since 6 April 1995, all newly-appointed public servants became fully insured under the Social Insurance System. They pay Class A PRSI, which would entitle them to Social Insurance Benefits such as, maternity benefit, illness benefit, State Pension Contributory (SPC) and other social insurance entitlements not available to public servants paying modified PRSI (Class B, C or D). A significant number of occupational pension schemes (both private and public sector) take account of a member’s entitlement to the SPC when calculating occupational pension benefits. This is known as ‘integration’, and is also sometimes referred to as 'coordination'.

A public servant paying Class A PRSI will receive both an occupational pension and, it is assumed, they will be also be entitled to the maximum rate of the SPC. As the SPC element is paid for by way of PRSI contributions, this part of the pension is bound by the rules and criteria as set by Department of Social Protection (DSP). However, in the case of public servants, an occupational supplementary pension may be payable in circumstances where the total pension package (i.e. the combined total of the public service occupational pension plus any social insurance benefits) is less than that of the pension payable to a public servant on an equivalent salary and whose pension is not integrated with the Social Insurance system and who do not have an entitlement to the SPC.

The payment of an occupational supplementary pension is subject to an individual meeting certain criteria, such as the retired public servant shall not be in paid employmentand:

(i) fails to qualify for Social Insurance Benefit or

(ii) qualifies for Social Insurance Benefit at a reduced rate and

(iii) has reached minimum pension age or is in receipt of an ill-health pension

The following Social Insurance payments are considered when assessing an individual for an Occupational Supplementary Pension: The State Pension Contributory (SPC), the State Pension Transition (also known as a Retirement Pension and now abolished since January 2014), Illness Benefit, Invalidity Benefit, Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds and Jobseeker’s Benefit. Other benefits/allowances not listed above are not taken into account when assessing an individual’s entitlement to an Occupational Supplementary Pension e.g. Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Contributory) Pension, Jobseeker’s Allowance and any other means-tested benefit/allowance. In order to qualify for the payment of a supplementary pension, a retired public servant must engage with the Department of Social Protection and apply for any of above mentioned benefits to which they may have an entitlement. The rules regarding qualifying for any of the above Social Insurance payments are a matter for the Department of Social Protection.

It is worth noting that if an individual in receipt of a supplementary pension takes up employment, for example, for one day, the supplementary pension would cease for that one day and be payable for the other 4 working days in the week, similar to how an entitlement to Jobseeker’s Benefit is treated.