According to unions and representative bodies, personnel from the Gardaí, military, fire and prison services, who were hired in the past ten years, may have to forego a significant part of their full pensions for several years following their retirement. These groups declare that the public service pension reforms implemented in 2013, also known as the “single scheme”, would disproportionately affect those in uniformed professions. It is because these workers retire earlier, owing to the challenging and hazardous nature of their jobs, and their pensions accumulate at a faster rate compared to other state employees.
Various labour unions, including Siptu and Fórsa, together with the Prison Officers Association, the Representative Association for Commissioned Officers, and the Garda Representative Association have all concluded a joint decision initiating a campaign to champion the return of auxiliary pensions for these specific clusters.
Siptu’s Geoff McEvoy sheds light on the pension conditions for a majority of the public sector employees, indicating that their complete pension consists of a combination of their employment pension and the State pension. Previously, workers with rapidly accumulating pensions had the advantage of an extra supplementary pension.
Aisling Buffini, a firefighter/paramedic with the Dublin Fire Brigade for the past four years, is currently on the 2013 pension scheme. She bemoans her less optimistic future owing to the single scheme. Aisling believes the pension plan fails to ensure an optimistic future because her retirement at age 55 means she would receive only a portion of her pension for the first 11 years of her retirement. She now has to accommodate extra payments each month to potentially reduce the term of her mortgage because she won’t be able to handle mortgage and bills with her current pension provision upon retirement.
Aisling also had to avail of an extra voluntary contribution to proactively address the flaws of the single-member scheme. Presently, she is financially strained as she attempts to secure a stable future.
Conor King, the General Secretary of RACO – the military officers’ association, voiced that the pension scheme set up in 2013 was a major impedance to retaining officers. He claimed that a€1 million is required to educate a bomb disposal officer and a€2 million is needed to prepare a pilot. He further suggested that the Government should consider the financial practicality of revamping the supplementary pension in comparison to hiring and training new staff.
It was stated by union representatives that Paschal Donohoe, the Minister for Public Expenditure, had recently informed the Dáil that employees with speedy accrual pensions had the chance to secure another occupation post-retirement.
On Wednesday, the Department of Public Expenditure made a statement explaining that the members adorned in uniforms under the 2013 pension scheme experienced faster pension growth in comparison to regular members due to their earlier retirement ages. Upon reaching the retirement age, they receive their individual scheme pension instantly.
However, the department also announced that no provision is included in the law to bestow any single scheme pension members with a supplementary payment to account for the fact that the Pension of the State (contributory) isn’t granted until the individual turns 66.