ARCO has been in contact with Pensions Section of the Department of Defence in relation to the implementation of increases to Defence Forces Pensions and has been provided with the following update.
Members will be aware from previous postings that the extended Building Momentum Agreement was sanctioned in the latter part of 2022 and included the following increases to serving personnel and to relevant qualifying pensioners in pre-existing pension schemes:
- 2 February 2022 increase of 3%. (This, plus the relevant associated arrears was paid in the December 2022 pension payment.)
- 1 October 2022 – increase of 1%, or €500, whichever is greater, and
- 1 March 2023 – increase of 2%.
Note: These increases apply only to pre-2013 pension schemes. Pensions awarded under the Single Public Service Pension Scheme are increased in line with Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases. They do not get the benefit of these pay increases but have been in receipt of an 8.2% CPI increase effective from 1 January 2023.
With regard to the implementation of the benefit of these increases for relevant Defence Forces pensions, Pensions Section states that work is well underway, and the target is to have the benefit of the second and third increases included in the May payroll.
This is later than originally indicated and is due to the decision to implement the October 2022 and March 2023 increases together. Members will be aware the implementation of pension increases has become a significant administrative undertaking due to the multiplicity of individualised pension rates involved.
