Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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1797. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to intervene in relation to the pension entitlements of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41835/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Firstly, I hope the Deputy will appreciate that I am unable to comment or intervene in relation to issues specific to an individual pension scheme.

The concept of mandatory preservation of pension benefits was only introduced when the Pensions Act 1990 (“1990 Act”) was enacted. Prior to the introduction of the 1990 Act, a person with a number of years’ service could, depending on the rules of the scheme, not have had any entitlement to preserved benefits (or ‘vested pension rights’) and pension contributions may, subject to the rules of the particular scheme, have been refunded at the date of termination of their relevant employment.

Section 28 of the 1990 Act, which came into force in 1991, provided for the statutory preservation of benefits for members of all occupational pension schemes who leave relevant employment before normal pensionable age, for any reason, other than death, provided they satisfy certain qualifying conditions. Following commencement of section 28 on 1 January 1991, a member of a scheme whose employment contract was terminated was entitled to a preserved benefit provided the member had completed at least 5 years' qualifying service of which at least 2 such years fell after January 1991.

In order to expand pension coverage and enhance retirement income, section 28 of the 1990 Act was amended, with effect from 1 June 2002, by the Pensions (Amendment) Act 2002 to provide that a person who has completed at least two years qualifying service is entitled to a preserved pension benefit. It should be noted that this provision does not apply retrospectively, i.e. it only applies to members who leave a pension scheme post 1 June 2002. The Pensions (Amendment) Act 2002 implemented the recommendations of the National Pensions Policy Initiative (NPPI) which followed an extensive consultation period with industry and social partners.

Section 28 of the 1990 Act applies to all defined benefit pension schemes that are subject to Part III of the 1990 Act and, consequently, all such schemes must operate in accordance with the preservation rules. If a person did not have an entitlement to a preserved benefit at the time the employment contract is terminated, a refund of employee contributions, if relevant, would have been paid to the former employee.

It is not intended to advance legislative proposals to retrospectively provide for vested pension rights in relation to service dating back to 1991 or before, as to do so would give rise to legal complexities and place a significant unplanned financial burden on defined benefit schemes and, in some cases, could potentially threaten the solvency of such schemes.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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1798. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to review the invalidity pension application for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41837/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence, has decided to allow the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision.

The person concerned will be notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision in the coming days.