Vol. 526 No. 4
242 Mr. L. Burke asked the Minister for Finance if he is making provision in the forthcoming budget for civil servants who were forced to resign in the early 1960s on getting married; and if these persons will be offered any relief or pension in their own right now that they have matured beyond pension age. [26857/00]
As regards the occupational superannuation arrangements for the Civil Service for which I have direct responsibility, the position is that, prior to 31 July 1973, the law required that female employees in the Civil Service had to resign on marriage. In such cases, employees under pension age qualified for marriage gratuities of 1/12th of salary per year of service, subject to a maximum of one year's salary.
I would point out that, where a person who resigns before pension age subsequently becomes a civil servant, the break in service does not debar the reckoning of the prior service for purposes of any pension benefits for which they subsequently become eligible in respect of the later service. In order to aggregate the periods of service, an appropriate refund must be made in respect of any payment made to them on the occasion of the initial resignation. This would be of benefit to any of the employees affected by the marriage bar who re-entered the Civil Service after 1973.
I have no plans to change the Superannuation Acts to provide pensions for officers who resigned on marriage before 1973. I would point out that any such change would, inter alia, have wide ramifications in relation to employees who left the public service before the introduction of preserved pension entitlements.
