THE government has committed itself to submitting proposals to fix distortions in the pensions’ scheme of the public sector before parliament breaks up for elections in May.
Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis announced the plan at yesterday’s House Finance Committee, where he joined discussions on a proposal signed by all parties except ruling AKEL to amend the current pensions’ system.
The proposal – which aims to put an end to state officials receiving double and even treble pensions, or receiving pensions if they are still employed in a public post – led to a series of conflicts, especially between public servants’ umbrella union PASYDY and MPs.
Doubts were also voiced on behalf of the Attorney general on the constitutionality of some of the provisions – such as whether the new law could have retroactive power. But all parties involved agreed to the urgent need to revise the pensions’ scheme, if there is still to be one in the future.
“I want to express my happiness that government and parties all have one common view and that is to put an end to this unacceptable and chaotic phenomenon,” Stavrakis said after the meeting. “This law proposal has been very carefully examined by the government and there are many good suggestions, but it can’t be seen as a complete solution as it doesn’t take into account large groups of people that will be affected by these changes.”
He added that the government’s own proposal looked at the whole picture, though parliament’s suggestions could create the basis for a more complete bill. “The Finance Ministry is in the final stages of completing our own bill, which will be discussed at the Cabinet very soon and then sent to parliament. We have committed to end this unacceptable phenomenon and we have committed to do so before this current parliament ends its operations,” said Stavrakis. “I am optimistic that by April, parliament will have a complete bill that will cover all aspects.”
The minister concluded that whether the bill would have retroactive power or not would be something that would be discussed at the Cabinet, “seriously and responsibly” – after seeking the advice of the Attorney general.
Committee chairman, DIKO’s Nicolas Papadopoulos, said it was commonly acknowledged that the current pensions’ scheme was in imminent danger of collapsing if immediate efforts weren’t made to reform it.
“Unfortunately, until today we don’t have any specific suggestions by the Finance Ministry and government; we have made an admission that there is a problem, but no solutions have been proposed,” said Papadopoulos.
The parties’ proposal also calls for a public servant’s pension to be estimated based on the average salary of the last two years of employment. This, said Papadopoulos, would put an end to the phenomenon of state officials receiving a promotion in their final months of service to get higher pensions – currently, the pension is estimated based on the last salary received.
As EDEK’s Marinos Sizopoulos pointed out, regulating this specific matter would help stop favouritism. “We need to ensure that these last-minute promotions, which can be considered as a form of preferential behaviour, aren’t estimated on the pensions,” he said. Sizopoulos also underlined the need to impose a maximum amount on the pensions that can be given to state officials, while he also pointed out that there were some state officials who even receive higher pensions and salaries than the president.
PASYDY’s negative reactions to the planned changes were far from welcomed by deputies. EVROKO’s Demetris Syllouris said the union’s reactions over their collective agreements had done little to sensitise him – “as it is these collective agreements that created all these distortions and injustices and led to this problem in the first place”.
The Green Party’s George Perdikis was equally dismissive. “I can’t understand why PASYDY is viewing this with hostility and coming into conflict with parliament, which made this mistake in the first place.”
He said parliament made the original mistake in 1998, when MPs imposed a double pensions system. “I don’t understand why PASYDY doesn’t want this unfair system fixed.”
Perdikis underlined the need for the issue to be resolved before parliament closes for the elections. “Any shortcomings and problems that may arise can be fixed along the way,” he added.
