A further extension to June 2016 of the retirement grace period has been announced. Under the Haddington Road Agreement (HRA), the Government agreed “to provide in legislation for a grace period for pension purposes during which both the reduction in pay and deferral of increment progression will be discounted”.
This agreement initially covered teachers retiring up to and including 31 August 2014.
TUI, through the Public Services Committee of ICTU, sought an extension to this period.
In April 2014 the government extended the grace period under HRA to 30 June 2015.
In response to requests for a further extension of the grace period, the Government has today announced an extension until June 2016.
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Section 9 of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) Act 2013 allows public servants with a preserved pension benefit to have their gross superannuation benefits calculated on the basis of the pay rates that applied prior to the passing of the Act.
The period within which this applied was originally up to August 2014. This was extended by the Minister (under section 9(1)(b)(ii) of the Act) to 30 June 2015 initially, and has now been further extended to 30 June 2016.