Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 10:

In page 22, line 34, to delete “Every” and substitute “Subject to subsection (2), every”.

These amendments pertain to clarifying ministerial responsibilities for pensions. The existing section 25 provides for the Minister to become responsible for the existing superannuation schemes of the dissolved body. A new subsection (2) is to be included in the Bill, which qualifies the provision of section 25 where a scheme or arrangement in respect of superannuation may not have been approved by the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform or any other Minister of the Government whose consent was required but not obtained. Section 19 of the Bill provides for the transfer of Forfás functions to the Minister and as such, the text, which is to be deleted by amendment No. 11, is superfluous. Amendment No. 12 introduces a new subsection (2), which provides that the provisions of the existing section 25, which shall now become section 25(1), if agreed, shall not apply where a scheme or arrangement in respect of superannuation may not have been approved by a relevant Minister. Amendment No. 10 qualifies the existing section 25 by making it subject to the provisions of the new subsection (2) that is to be inserted. Section 25 will now read as follows:

Superannuation schemes administered by dissolved body

25(1) Subject to subsection (2), every scheme or arrangement in relation to superannuation administered by the dissolved body immediately prior to the dissolution day shall, on and after the dissolution day, continue in force as if made by the Minister.

(2) Subsection (1)shall not apply in relation to a provision of a scheme or arrangement in relation to superannuation in respect of which the consent or approval of the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform or any other Minister of the Government was required by or under any enactment but not obtained.

This is, in a sense, a safety provision. There is no term to which it is believed this provision applies.

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