Delay in public pension reform criticised

Ibec, the organisation that represents Irish business, has hit out at the Government’s delay in implementing public sector pension reform.

Responding to an Irish Examiner report which shows that Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin has failed to sign off on a radical change in pension entitlements, Ibec’s director of industrial relations Brendan McGinty said: “The cost of pensions for serving public servants is unaffordable and projected to increase by €500m between 2009-2015. We cannot afford any delay in public service pension reform.”

As this newspaper revealed yesterday, thousands of new-entrant teachers and other public servants are continuing to qualify for gilt-edged pensions because of a signature delay by Mr Howlin.