“Department figures show that 640 primary teachers and 465 second-level teachers have indicated their intention to retire in January or February 2012 …” (more)
[Education Matters, 5 January]
“The Government has announced further cuts in top level public service pensions. Ministers decided today to impose reductions of 20% in the portion of any pension that exceeds €100,000 …” (more)
[RTÉ News, 29 November]
“The differences to Fiona Patrick’s working practices in recent weeks are subtle, but they have been, she says, an ‘absolute revelation’. The lecturer at Glasgow University’s school of education has been reading a book or newspaper on the hour-long train journey to and from work, rather than desperately catching up on admin tasks or poring over research articles …” (more)
[HT: Brian Lucey]
[Rachel Williams, Guardian, 7 November]
“Lecturers at half of the country’s universities have threatened to stop marking students’ work unless a battle over their pensions is resolved. From Monday, academics at 67 universities – including Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London – will work only their contracted hours in protest at changes which they say will leave them with less in retirement …” (more)
[Jessica Shepherd, Guardian, 7 October]
“In advance of its major HR Leadership Summit at the Convention Centre Dublin, IBEC today called for much more radical reform of public sector pensions than currently proposed by government. The group said it welcomed new plans to reduce the cost of pensions for new recruits, but said reform must also extend to the pension arrangements of existing public sector workers …” (more)
[IBEC, 6 October]
“Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore has urged unions to stand back after they criticised radical pension reform plans and threatened court action. The Foreign Affairs Minister said new measures to cut the public service retirement bill by 35%, or €1.8bn, by 2050 are prudent …” (more)
[Ed Carty, Independent, 30 September]
“New pensions legislation which aims to cut the cost of the public sector pension bill by 35% has been described as ‘larcenous’ and illegal by the main unions representing teachers. The secondary teachers union, the ASTI, said it was considering challenging the measures in the courts …” (more)
[Paul Cullen, Irish Times, 30 September]
“The Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has said there is ‘no point speculating’ on the numbers of public servants who may be prompted into retirement by up-coming changes to the pension scheme …” (more)
[BreakingNews.ie, 10 September]
“Thousands of public sector workers are forecast to retire within the coming months as the Government plans to introduce changes to the pension scheme next February, union leaders have warned …” (more)
[BreakingNews.ie, 4 September]
“The rush to retire workers early in order to reduce the public sector wage bill is leading to errors in pension entitlement calculations, the Pensions Ombudsman has warned. …” (more)
[Caroline O’Doherty, Irish Examiner, 26 August]
“The public sector is expected to be hit by an exodus of an estimated 7,000 staff as workers plan to retire before cuts to their pensions are introduced in February. More than 1,500 gardai are expected to take early retirement, while another 1,000 teachers are expected to follow suit …” (more)
[Maeve Sheehan and Jim Cusack, Sunday Independent, 14 August]
“Thousands of Leaving Cert students are set to suffer serious exam chaos next year with a mass exodus of teachers just weeks before their exams.Around 1,000 teachers will retire by February after a major botch up by the Department of Education …” (more)
[Independent, 12 August]
“Government claims of huge savings to the exchequer as a result of the Croke Park agreement are greatly exaggerated because they ignore increased public service pension costs …” (more)
[Pat Leahy, Sunday Business Post, 19 June]
“Around 50,000 students across Northern Ireland have been affected by strike action as university lecturers took to the picket line in a row over pensions …” (more)
[Belfast Telegraph, 22 March]
“Strike action by university lecturers will affect about 50,000 students in Northern Ireland …” (more)
[BBC News, 21 March]
“Thousands of Northern Ireland’s students will miss out on classes on Monday as university staff are set to strike …” (more)
[Belfast Telegraph, 19 March]
“Teachers’ pay and pensions cost €45 million more than expected last year despite Government efforts to cut costs in the public service …” (more)
[Niall Murray, Irish Examiner, 19 January]
“Only IFUT and TUI proposed doing anything about Public Sector Pension Cuts. INTO and INMO mentioned the cuts in statements. There was no mention of the cuts on Websites of the following bodies: ICTU, SIPTU, ASTI, CPSU, PSEU, IMPACT …” (more)
[Paddy Healy, Indymedia Ireland, 14 December]
“Reports are circulating from reputable journalists that the pension levy on serving public servants is to be extended to retired public servants in the forthcoming budget. As you know, this is just a selective and discriminatory tax and has no bearing on pension …” (more)
[Paddy Healy's Blog, 21 November]
“Over 100,000 retired state workers may be facing a cut in their public-sector pensions in the December budget, the Sunday Tribune has learned …” (more)
[Shane Coleman, Sunday Tribune, 14 November]
