Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Next is No. R2199B from Ms Fiona Ross, group chair of CIÉ, dated 27 October. This correspondence provides information requested by the committee regarding the CIÉ superannuation scheme. It is proposed to note and publish this correspondence. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I flagged this matter for discussion. There are people pensioned out of CIÉ who are in the unusual position of their pensions not having increased for 15 years. Some of them are in receipt of very small pensions and some are slipping below the level of the State pension. Many of them have no alternative pension entitlements, for example, the mainstream State pension, because they spent their working lives in CIÉ. While that was okay at one stage and the pension payments were above the State pension, the situation has reversed.

Along with the reply, information was sent about the 1951 defined scheme. According to the reply, the average pension payable over the past five years on a normal salary for those executives retiring was €87,000. Unfortunately, the pensions of the general workers, drivers and other assorted grades who have retired are a fraction of that. There has been a Labour Court ruling on the matter as well as a back-and-forth with the trade union group. The letter from CIÉ’s management outlines a deficit of €400 million across the 1951 scheme and the rail workers’ scheme and raises questions about the pension schemes. However, it has been set out to me – if the committee is agreeable, we should probe this with CIÉ – that although wages have increased by 25% to 30%, pensioners have seen no increments whatsoever even though there is €1.6 billion in CIÉ’s pension funds, including €110 million in an emergency fund. CIÉ can correct this information if necessary. What is that emergency fund being used for? This is an emergency situation. Pensioners are slipping into dire poverty and have not seen an increase since 2008.

CIÉ’s overall deficit has reduced from €950 million to €400 million. The direction of travel indicates that the deficit may reduce further. I understand that the State took €40 million out of the pension fund during the crash. The current surplus in the pension schemes is not clear. If the committee is agreeable, I ask that we write back to RTÉ regarding these five questions.