A RETIRED community school teacher who received a two-year suspended prison sentence for larceny is to have his pension payments restored, the High Court ruled yesterday.
Mr Justice Kelly stated that the Minister for Education had no power to withdraw his pension.
Mr Jeremiah Lovett (48), of Parkside, Ferrycarrig Road, Wexford, had been principal of Ramsgrange Community School, Co Wexford, from 1977 to 1993 when he was suspended for misappropriation of school funds.
Giving his decision yesterday, Mr Justice Kelly rejected a provision in the teachers' superannuation scheme that a teacher would lose his or her pension if convicted and sentenced to more than 12 months' imprisonment.
In March, 1995, Mr Lovett notified the Minister for Education that he was retiring on grounds of ill-health. This was approved to take effect from November, 1993. He was told a payment on account would be sent on June 29th, 1995.
In July last year, he received a suspended sentence of two years at a Circuit Court hearing. A month later, he was told no further payments would be made because of the clause referring to imprisonment in the pension scheme.
Mr Justice Kelly said the validity of the forfeiture and of paragraph 8(1) of the scheme were at issue. The 1928 Act setting up the scheme did not have anything to do with deterring the commission of criminal offences, whether by teachers or retired teachers.
Paragraph 8 (1) went very much further than giving effect to principles and policies contained in the 1928 Act. The very use of the term "forfeiture" indicated something penal, but the 1928 Act had nothing to do with the enforcement of the criminal law.
The paragraph did not fall within the scope of the 1928 Act, from which it purported to derive its authority, and appeared to exceed the provisions and intentions of the Act as a whole.
He held Mr Lovett was entitled to a declaration that paragraph 8 (I) of the scheme was beyond the power of the Minister, null and void and of no legal effect.
It followed that Mr Lovett was entitled to a declaration that his pension rights and entitlements had not validly been forfeited. His monthly pension had been calculated at about Pounds 1,100.
Dealing with the constitutional challenge to paragraph 8 (1), Mr Justice Kelly said Mr Lovett's right to a pension was a property right protected by the Constitution. The paragraph amounted to an unreasonable and unjustified interference with his constitutional entitlements.
However, the judge said he did not propose to grant a declaration as to the constitutionality of the paragraph.
The Teachers' Union of Ireland welcomed the decision. It said the forfeiture of the pension was draconian and a pension was a form of deferred wages and part of a teacher's conditions of employment. The union said it did not of course, condone the offence or seek to defend it.