Politicians and office holders who lose their seats but are subsequently re-elected will be able to avail of the current pension arrangements, rather than being forced into the less generous scheme which the Government will introduce shortly.
The revelation came at the Oireachtas Committee on Finance, which was briefed by public sector union representatives on the proposed new scheme aimed at securing savings of €1.8 billion by the middle of this century.
IMPACT general secretary Shay Cody said he found it strange that someone could re-enter parliament and be a member of the old scheme, while an ordinary person who leaves the public service would end their connection with that scheme.
The situation was described as a case of some public servants being more equal than others. Richard Boyd Barrett of the United Left Alliance described the situation as unbelievable.
The IMPACT General Secretary acknowledged that public service unions were not enthusiastic about what they see as a worsening of terms and conditions for public servants through the new pension scheme.
Mr Cody said a fairer way of securing savings on the state pension bill would have been to retain the existing system but to cap pensions at €60,000.
He also pointed to an anomaly whereby if a public servant died in service or following retirement, and their partner/spouse were to remarry or cohabit, they would have to forfeit their pension. Mr Cody said this anomaly should be abolished.
He confirmed that in years where inflation rose, pensions would rise by the rate of inflation. However, if there were deflation, pensions would not be cut but would remain static.
The committee was also told that under the new scheme, part time workers - predominantly women - would lose out in their pension entitlements.
Billy Hannigan of the Public Service Executive union said that it was a myth that public servants who put out fires and look after the public are on a pensions gravy train.
He said over a quarter of civil service pensioners had pensions of less than €5,000, while over 50% of them get less than €20,000.
