Supplementary pension general query

stoves1

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I was compulsory retired from an garda siochana at age 60 in the past year having joined in 1999 ie post 1995 so paid prsi at A rate. For the 1st nine months of my retirement i had to claim job seekers benefit and also got a percentage of a pension from an garda siochana, after 9 months i no longer qualified for any social welfare benefits so recieved a supplementary pension from garda pensions to bring me up to same rate of garda pension if i was pre 1995 entrant.
My query is when the national wage agreements wage rises were implemented for Oct 2022 and Mar 2023 looks like i only got the percentage increases on the occupational part of my pension and not on the whole pension ( as per pre 1995 entrants) so the supplementary amount has not changed is this correct or do i need to do something about it, as i have a gut feeling that the pensions department of justice are not sure etc, would appreciate comments as this will have major implications for post 1995 public servants when they retire compared to pre 1995, thanks fro replies
 
Hi,
Did you get any update from your pensions office, on this matter?
It all seems a bit vague, as to whether the Supplementary is linked to current pay scales, or the state pension , or some other unknown factor.
I am not retired, but will be in the next couple of years and , like you, will rely on the supplementary pension for several years.
 
The Supplementary is calculated as the difference between the occupational pension actually awarded to the Class A retiree at NRA and what they would have been awarded on Class D.

I can't say for sure it doesn't happen but I have never heard of it being recalculated on an ongoing basis. If this were to be the practice it would have to done for every individual retiree every time there is a change in either the State Pension or the salary attached to the retiree's grade at point of retirement. Theoretically the change could be either up or down depending on the respective movements in these two variables, and it would be individual to every retiree receiving the Supplementary. It would be quite costly and administratively demanding to deliver as there is no one size fits all level of Supplementary Pension award.
 
I sort of got a vague reply from Garda Pensions which im still trying to understand, so answer by early riser seems to be their answer, does this mean that your supplementary pension amount stays the same until age 66 and any national wage agreements only apply to the non supplementary part of pension?
If this is the case it goes against what a lot of people thought who are class A prsi, as my understanding for years before retirement that their would be no difference on retirement between post 95 retiree and pre 95 retiree. So does this "no difference" only apply on date of retirement and not subsequent years?
 
The Supplementary is calculated as the difference between the occupational pension actually awarded to the Class A retiree at NRA and what they would have been awarded on Class D.

I can't say for sure it doesn't happen but I have never heard of it being recalculated on an ongoing basis. If this were to be the practice it would have to done for every individual retiree every time there is a change in either the State Pension or the salary attached to the retiree's grade at point of retirement. Theoretically the change could be either up or down depending on the respective movements in these two variables, and it would be individual to every retiree receiving the Supplementary. It would be quite costly and administratively demanding to deliver as there is no one size fits all level of Supplementary Pension award.
Surely the calculation is simple.
The overall pension should be exactly the same as the Class D pensioner.
Everyone retires at a particular incremental point on a particular salary scale. That's their pensionable remuneration.
Public Sector pay is clearly defined for, virtually, every single position.
So, when that salary increase, the retiree's pension is recalculated accordingly.
 
The overall pension should be exactly the same as the Class D pensioner.

It rarely is the same. If the Class A is awarded JB at retirement it may well bring them above the corresponding Class A (similarly after State Pension age). I don't think any of the Circulars said that the two pensions would always be exactly the same.
 

Not sure if this makes it any clearer but it does seem to indicate that the Supplementary is designed to bridge the difference between D and A pensioners.
 
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