Day 1
Bill Seeks to Correct Clergy Pensions Anomaly
A Bill which seeks to correct and anomaly which has arisen in the calculation of late retirement pensions of clergy was presented at General Synod in Naas today (Friday May 9). Bill No 6 notes that a small number of members of the Church of Ireland Clergy Pensions Fund who had reached the normal retirement age (NRA) before 1st January 2024, but had not yet retired by that date, have not benefitted from recent increases to pensionable stipend or to pensions in payment. The proposed amendment to the Constitution will lead to late retirement pensions being calculated by using pensionable stipend at the date of retirement.
The Bill was presented by Robert Neill and Archdeacon Barry Forde at the request of the Representative Body.
Proposing the Bill Mr Neill recalled that pensions were frozen in 2013 when the Pension Fund was insolvent. A funding proposal was agreed with the Pensions Regulator and the fund exited the funding proposal 10 years later in 2023 when solvency was restored.
He said that in January 2024 significant catch–up inflationary pension increases were awarded of 25% in Northern Ireland and 12% in the Republic. This created unintended consequences for those still in service after their NRA, he stated. Under the existing rules, Pensionable Stipend was fixed at NRA and anyone serving beyond NRA was compensated by late retirement factors agreed with the Trustee of the fund but which did not compensate for the significant increases awarded last year.
“To address the anomaly, and to provide for any possible repetition in the future, this Bill provides that Pensionable Stipend be fixed at actual date of retirement – with revised late retirement factors to compensate for pension payments foregone. Since there are a few long serving clergy who would still do better under the old arrangements, the Bill allows flexibility to accommodate that choice,” Mr Neill concluded.
The bill will come back before Synod on Tuesday evening for its concluding stage.