Anger at new minimum pension age

Pensions Public sector unions reacted with dismay to the new minimum pension age announced in the Budget.

New entrants to a variety of public service jobs will be unable to claim a pension until they are 65, under the arrangements unveiled yesterday.

The new regime will also apply to future members of the Oireachtas. TDs can currently claim a pension after 20 years' service.

As well as stipulating a minimum pension age of 65, Mr McCreevy announced that new entrants to the public service will be allowed to work beyond that age if they wish.

The new arrangements will only apply to those taking up public service jobs after April 1st next year, or politicians elected to the Oireachtas after that date.

They will apply to civil servants, teachers and staff in local government, the health services and non-commercial State-sponsored bodies.

The minimum pension age will be increased to 55 for new entrant gardaí and prison officers, while the compulsory retirement age for new entrants to the Garda is to be raised to 60.

Some of the changes had been signposted in the report of the Commission on Public Service Pensions and subsequent negotiations between unions and the Government.

Nevertheless, a number of unions expressed anger at yesterday's announcement in spite of the fact that current members will not be affected.

The Irish National Teachers' Organisation said it was "appalled" at the "unilateral decision" taken by the Minister to change the public service pension arrangements.

It accused Mr McCreevy of "cherry-picking" from the commission's report, and said he had made it difficult for primary teachers to enter negotiations on a successor to Sustaining Progress.

"The provision whereby teachers could retire after 40 years' service on full pension has been taken away.

"The provision whereby teachers could retire after 35 years' service with a reduced pension has also been removed," it said.

"This is a significant worsening of teachers' conditions of employment, which follows the imposition of full PRSI in 1995. Again, as in 1995, there were no meaningful consultations with teachers on this matter."

Mr Liam Doran, of the Irish Nurses' Organisation, said it was "neither feasible nor desirable" to force nurses to remain working until the age of 65. Nurses could currently retire at 60 as of right or at 55 if they had 35 years' service.

He said early retirement was the most "persistent and consistent issue" raised by members.

Mr Blair Horan, of the Civil and Public Service Union, said the unions had "a deal" with the Government that new entrants would have "a spread of retirement age options", from the ages of 62 to 65.

The union was not in favour of a "blanket minimum" of 65, and it did not think it desirable that there should be no upper retirement age limit.