Public Service Single Pension Scheme
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From: Department of Education
- Published on: 5 November 2020
- Last updated on: 19 February 2025
What it is
The Single Pension Scheme is based on a career averaging model. This means that your retirement benefits are based on a % of your pensionable earnings throughout your public service career as a member of the Scheme. Your retirement benefits are only payable at retirement if you have passed a vesting period. The vesting period for this Scheme is 24 months.
For each pay period that you contribute to the Scheme, you build up an amount towards your retirement benefits. The total of these amounts at retirement, with some adjustments for increases in inflation for the amounts you earned earlier in your career, determines what your retirement benefits will be.
Members of the Single Pension Scheme have a minimum retirement age of 66 ( rising to 67 and 68 in line with State Pension Age changes ) but must retire at the age of 70 years.
The department’s circular 0007/2013 below outlines the details of the Scheme.
The Single Public Service Pension Scheme website provides details of the Single Scheme.
A detailed booklet on the terms and conditions of the Scheme is available using this link.
Apply
Pension declaration forms
Item was unpublished or removed
Post Primary Form (PDF, from page 5)
Purchase and Transfer of Benefits
The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform have published Circular 15 of 2019 which permits the purchase and transfer of retirement benefit into the Single Pension Scheme from 1 October 2019.
Members of the Single Pension Scheme who now wish to transfer an amount from an approved pension or Retirement scheme to the single pension scheme should complete the form SPS 4.
Members of the Single Pension Scheme who now wish to request a costing on the purchase of additional retirement benefit should complete the form SPS 5.
A calculation sheet is available to members of the single pension scheme using this link.
Further details on the Single Pension Scheme are available on the website of the Single Scheme at this link.
Should you have a specific query, you may email singlepensionscheme@education.gov.ie and your query will be answered as soon as possible.
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