SENATOR BACIK TO INTRODUCE PENSIONS EQUALITY BILL IN SEANAD TODAY

Ivana Bacik TD
22 March 2017

On behalf of the Labour Senators, Senator Ivana Bacik will today propose the Pensions (Equal Pension Treatment in Occupational Benefit Schemes) (Amendment) Bill 2016 in the Seanad at 4pm during private members’ time. The Bill will be seconded by Senators Ged Nash and Kevin Humphreys.

This Bill is an important equality measure – dealing with one legacy issue, left over after marriage equality was passed by Referendum in May 2015. The Bill seeks to address the small number of cases where retired employees who were legally not permitted to marry persons of the same sex before a particular date may be deprived of certain pension benefits.

The Bill was drafted in response to the case of Parris v TCD (Case C-443/15, 24th November 2016) in which Mr Parris, a retired TCD lecturer, lost his challenge to his employer’s pension scheme before the Court of Justice of the European Union. He had argued that his TCD pension scheme was discriminatory, as it provided that a TCD employee’s partner would only be entitled to a survivor’s pension where the employee had married or entered a civil partnership before reaching the age of 60.

David Parris will be present in the Seanad for the debate on the Bill today.

In proposing the Bill today, Senator Bacik will say:

“This Bill represents a small but significant step towards rectifying a continuing discrimination against a small number of individuals, who face the same difficulty as David Parris under their pension schemes, despite the passage of the Marriage Equality referendum.

“Under this Bill, if a pension scheme makes survivor’s pension entitlements dependent on the employee having married or entered a civil partnership before a certain age, this would breach the principle of equal pension treatment on the sexual orientation ground where the employee could not have complied with the requirement because it was legally impossible for them to marry or enter a civil partnership before reaching the required age.

“This Bill represents only a minor amendment to our pension law, but if passed it would make a real difference to a small number of LGBT individuals who face continued discrimination in their pension benefits, despite the Constitutional recognition of marriage equality.”

Stay up to date

Receive our latest updates in your inbox.
By subscribing you agree to receive emails about our campaigns, policies, appeals and opportunities to get involved. Privacy Policy

Follow us

Connect with us on social media