Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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291.To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will facilitate employees of education and training boards who may be eligible to claim professional added years, to calculate their retirement pay in advance of actually making a formal application, in order to enable them make an informed decision as to whether or not to actually apply for retirement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24929/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Professional Added Years (PAY) schemes apply to certain members of public service pensions schemes which existed prior to the introduction of the Single Public Service Pension Scheme who are recruited by way of open competition to professional, technical or specialist permanent posts in the civil/public service.

PAY may only be awarded at retirement to individuals in circumstances where the eligibility conditions attached to the recruitment competition for the relevant professional, technical or specialist post, were such that they prevented the individual from obtaining maximum reckonable service (40 years’ service in a standard accrual pension scheme) by a specified retirement age (usually age 65).

While the pension entitlements of employees of Education and Training Boards (ETBs) are processed by the pension administrators in the relevant ETB, the approval of awards of PAY is a matter for my Department. This includes, as part of a shared services agreement with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS), the assessment of applications for PAY from the further education sector in ETBs.

An award of PAY can be impacted by many factors such as previous pensionable service, work sharing patterns, ill health retirement or unpaid leave, and it is for these reasons that awards cannot be processed in advance of retirement.

The Deputy should note that PAY applications are accepted up to six months in advance of retirement. However, ETBs have been advised that they can indicate to an individual what their likely gross PAY award will be prior to receipt of a retirement application but a formal approval will not be given in advance.