Eligibility
Have joined the Civil or Public service on or before 01/01/2013. After 01/10/2023 the Single Pension scheme applies.
However, if you join the Civil or Public Service after 01/01/2013 but did not have a break of more that 26 week from the time you left you previous Civil or Public employment and joined then you may be eligible for an exemption. (In the case of persons taking up pensionable public service employment on or after 1 January 2013, pension scheme assignment is governed by section 10 of the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012 (‘the 2012 Act’). In general, that section provides that membership of the Single Scheme will apply to all first-time new entrants to the public service on or after that date, as well as previous public servants unless they qualify for one of the exemptions provided in the 2012 Act. The most common exemption applies where a public servant previously held membership of a pre-existing public service pension scheme and did not subsequently have a break in public service employment of more than 26 weeks. Such persons normally become members of the pre-existing public service pension scheme operating in their new workplace.)
What scheme are you in
In order to work out what your projected pension benefits will be, it is important to know what Pension scheme you are in. If you are unsure check with your HR Department. Are you established, unestablished, permanent or non permanent.
Limit on pension accrual (Benefit Cap)
Section 52(6) of the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and other Provisions) Act 2012 limits the amount of pensionable service an individual may accrue across all pre-existing public service pension schemes (non-Single Scheme terms) to a maximum of 40 years or equivalent. If you have accrued pension benefits under another pre-existing public service pension scheme, this may impact your total civil service pension benefits.
Retirement Date
| Established Civil Servants recruited before 1 April 2004: | You may retire between the ages of 60 and 70 in this scheme. |
| Established Civil Servants recruited on or after 1 April 2004: | You may retire from age 65 in this scheme. |
| Non-Established State Employees recruited before 1 April 2004 | You may retire between the ages of 65 and 70 in this scheme. |
| Non-Established State Employees recruited on or after 1 April 2004: | You may retire from age 65 in this scheme. |
| Prison Officers recruited before 1 April 2004: | You may retire between the ages of 55 and 60 in this scheme, or from age 50 if you have accrued 30 years’ reckonable service in this scheme. |
| Prison Officers recruited on or after 1 April 2004: | You may retire between the ages of 55 and 60 in this scheme. |
Actuarial retirement age:
Actuarial retirement may be available from 10 years prior to your minimum pension age; for example, from age 50 in the case of persons with a minimum pension age of 60 and from age 55 in the case of persons with a minimum pension age of 65. In Actuarial retirement there is no cost to the State as you Pension benefits qill be reduced as you are leaving early.
Purchase of Service
Depending the scheme you are in you may be eligible to purchase service to increase your pension benefits. Purchase can be made by either a lump sum or periodic deductions from your salary and continue to your retirement age.
Civil Service Pension Modeller
To assist in estimating your pension benefits the Civil service has developed a pension modeller. They will estimate:
- pension benefits at retirement for a selected retirement age or a selected date
- spouse and children’s benefits
- death in service benefits
- preserved benefits if you resign before your minimum retirement age
- actuarially reduced benefits if you retire before your minimum retirement age
Before using the modeller have the following information to hand.
- Date of birth
- Your Service dates – date you commenced and date leaving and any date where you changed your work pattern.
- Work Pattern relating to your service record, were you working 100% for a while and then reduced to 80% or 50% include the work pattern with the respective dates. If you currently workshare or work part time, or intend to do so in future, you should choose the % work pattern that you work or intend to work. This should be the % pro-rata to the full-time equivalent (100%).
- Any transferred service
- Annual Salary – ensure this is your full time (100%) equivalent salary. You may wish to project some ‘what if?’ scenarios by entering a salary value which differs from your current salary. For example you may wish to see the effect on your projected pension benefits that a higher point on your pay scale or a promotion to a higher grade would have.
Pension Statement
The Modeller provides the following 4 types of statements once you have included your details
- Retirement benefit statement -Estimate your projected pension benefits on retirement at a particular age or date.
- Preserved benefit statement – Estimate your projected pension benefits on reaching your minimum pension age, if you were to resign before your minimum pension age.
- Actuarially reduced retirement benefit statement – Estimate your projected actuarially reduced pension benefits on retirement at a particular age or date, in any of the ten years before your minimum pension age, should you choose not to preserve your pension.
- Death in Service benefit statement – Estimate the projected pension benefits your legal personal representative would receive if you were to die in service.