Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy may be aware my department has overarching responsibly for public service pension policy including pension appeals. Circular 16/2020 titled ‘Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) procedure for pension appeals in relation to beneficiaries/disputed beneficiaries of pre-existing civil service pension schemes and of certain public service pre-existing pension schemes’ replaces all previous circulars/letters/guidance issued on pension appeals/IDR procedures relating to pre-existing schemes in the:

• the civil service, and
• the public service where it is specified in either the governing legislation establishing the body, or in the pension scheme rules, that I as Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (or formerly Minister for Finance) am responsible for making the determination.

The circular does not grant a right of appeal to the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (M/PER) where none exists, and it is noted that certain other public service schemes do not have a right of appeal to M/PER in respect of pension disputes. The circular simply lays out the procedure to be followed in cases where there is a route of appeal to M/PER set out in the relevant pension scheme rules and/or a body’s establishing legislation.

Given the quasi-judicial nature of the pension appeal process, and for impartiality reasons It is not possible to engage with appellants in relation to the outcome of their appeal while consideration of their appeal is ongoing. Section 7 of the circular states that:

“From the time a person commences the formal appeal process (see Stage 2 in appendix) until a determination has issued, the appellant should receive no communication either in writing or verbally to indicate the possible success or failure of their appeal. This approach is necessary given the quasi-judicial process involved...”

The circular provides an indicative timeline of three months for a Notice of Determination to issue from receipt of the full information required to assess an appeal.

In some cases, a longer timeline may be necessary. This can arise when there is a substantial volume of documentation submitted, where the matters being considered are particularly complex and/or where third-party advice is required. In addition, there are a large number of pension appeal cases on hand with my department at present which require detailed and careful consideration.

While it is not possible to provide appellants with revisions to the indicative timeline set out under the circular on an ad-hoc basis, I wish to advise that my department is committed to progressing pension appeals received to a conclusion in as short a timeframe as possible.

As outlined in Circular 16/2020 should an appellant have a query connected to this circular they can contact their relevant HR Unit.