I refer to the Deputy’s question regarding pension increases in relation to retired civil servants outstanding under the Building Momentum Agreement. As the Deputy may be aware, the National Shared Services Office (NSSO) operate the pension payroll for retired civil servants. The NSSO is working to deliver the pension increases for its customers and I can confirm that as of the March 16th pay date, the majority of employees and pensioners have received their increases.
However, this task is complex due to the period of retrospection applying and the broad range of categories where arrears are due. Certain elements of the work process have been completed. However, prior to making any payments the NSSO is carrying out a comprehensive validation of the arrears values to ensure that the arrears paid to individuals are correct. Unfortunately, this means that the timeline for making final payments will be beyond end of quarter one, 2023. While it is not feasible to provide specific dates at this point, we can assure you that every effort is being made to process these payments as soon as possible. A further update will issue when the dates for payment can be confirmed.