Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have a point on the Aer Lingus pensions. I am not as familiar with the issue as Deputies Clare Daly and Brendan Ryan or Mr. Begg but I have certainly attended some meetings and have read the correspondence we received and listened to some of the debate. My impression was that, in terms of working out a solution, everybody faced some risk. If one were to go down the legal route and thrash these issues out in court, there would not necessarily be a better deal for the people concerned. It could work out worse. All of these factors are part of the picture when compromise is being reached. These were my thoughts on the matter at the time.

When reference was made to the second tier of pension, was Mr. Begg referring to the auto-enrolment scenario? What is his view on auto-enrolment? This is a matter the committee has examined. Should there be universal pension provision? Deputy Byrne raised the case of women who had to leave the Civil Service because of the marriage ban and consequently did not have enough contributions for their pensions. Obviously, there are others who are not covered. There are also those who may contribute to a private or public service pension but who do not receive the State pension. Should everybody not get a State pension from the outset as a basic principle? Perhaps everybody should have to make a contribution in that regard. Social welfare recipients obviously receive credit, but this could be tied into the equation also. Those are my questions. Mr. Begg has a lot of ground to cover.