PENSION ARRANGEMENTS FOR future senior civil servants are going to be changed from today, the Minister for Public Reform and Expenditure Brendan Howlin has said.

Secretaries-General currently enjoy benefits such as early retirement with added years, severance payments and immediate pension payments. Under the new scheme, however, severance and added years would not be guaranteed.

The reform of Top Level Appointment Committee (TLAC) terms will mean that, for all future appointments, there will be:

• No added years
• No pension payable prior to the minimum pension age
• Offers of alternative posts where Secretaries General are from the civil service and do not have 40 years service and have not reached minimum pension age
• No severance pay except in the case where a person is not of minimum pension age or has not been offered an alternative post; then severance of up to one year’s salary applies
• No severance payment where a person is offered an alternative post and refuses

Howlin stated that these measures ”will result in substantial savings for the taxpayers.”

However, the Minister added that there would be a review of the new terms in one year, saying: “A balance has to be struck to ensure that the right people capable of taking on the complex challenges our country faces now, and in the future are in place.

“Accordingly we will review the new terms after 12 months to see that they are effective in attracting the desired candidates.”