Call to reduce women’s pension payments

WOMEN who returned to work in the civil service following the removal of the marriage bar are now faced with huge costs as they seek to build up pension entitlements.

This claim was made at the annual conference of the Civil, Public and Services Union (CPSU), which called for a reduction in the amount of money the 2,000 women have to pay.

Prior to the adoption of EU equality legislation in 1974, women had to resign from the civil service upon getting married. When they resigned, they were paid a marriage gratuity as some compensation for lost pension entitlements.

However, when the law changed, making it illegal to discriminate against people on grounds of gender or marital status, married women started to return to the civil service, often several years after they had accepted the gratuity.

In order to get pension entitlements, they have to pay back the gratuity with 6% compound interest.

"Many of the lower-paid workers just can't afford to repay the gratuity and, even if they can, interest keeps adding up," said CPSU deputy general secretary Rosaleen Glackin.

"If someone, for example, got a gratuity of 2,000 they might have to pay back 20,000."

The Commission on Public Service Pensions has recommended a reduction in the interest to 4%, and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) is seeking a 3% reduction.

Delegates at the CPSU conference unanimously passed a motion calling for a cut in the money people had to pay back.

Some anti-ICTU sentiment also surfaced at the conference, with CPSU executive member Terry Kelleher strongly critical of the ICTU's support for the Nice Treaty, accusing it of being undemocratic.

"They seem to be a group of intellects who decide, after discussions among themselves, what is good for us," he claimed.

But CPSU general secretary Blair Horan said that recent happenings had shown it was absolutely necessary for Europe to move forward together as one voice.

"We have a choice whether to remain in the backwoods, or become part of the wider progressive movement which will ultimately represent our interests," he said.

"We have to be part of the European progressive social model, and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions is following that line."

However, delegates passed a motion condemning ICTU's stand on the Nice Treaty, and democracy within the organisation.