Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

The legislation is probably clear in the case of double insolvencies, but this is to deal with cases in which a company is still viable and the scheme runs into difficulties or there is a dispute. The legislation is deficient in the protection it gives to workers compared with those in other countries. It lets the employers off the hook somewhat. We should try to copperfasten the legislation so that it is not the pensioners or the State picking up the tab for a company that is incredibly profitable and could step up to the plate. In the UK there is quite strong legislation which defines the legal onus on the company such that where it is viable it has an obligation to meet its pension promises to its workforce.

Several of the big schemes here fall short of provision - for example, the IASS scheme, which is a cross-border scheme, has over 1,000 members in the UK who would expect as British citizens to get the same guarantees they would get in Britain. Even the United States places a heavier onus on companies than we provide for in this scheme. Membership of these schemes was often a condition of one’s contract of employment and there was no opting out. Employers must come up to the mark. Many points have been made about the courts and others having considered this matter. The Minister is aware of several schemes in which there have been disputes over who is responsible, or in respect of which companies with defined benefit schemes have tried to declare them as defined contribution schemes, or change the method of accounting. The courts have adjudicated on the big airport schemes as defined benefit schemes. The Minister is aware of the recent case involving Aer Lingus in the Commercial Court, which impacts on the company's attempt to reduce some of the capital allowances. The judgment stated that there was a contingent liability in respect of the pension scheme. This Bill does not fully deal with such a situation.

It is interesting that, because of the changes in some of these companies, members of pension schemes such as that one were treated as public sector workers. They were enabled to join the public sector transfer network scheme because Aer Lingus had been 100% State-owned and the State still owns 100% of the Dublin Airport Authority and Shannon Airport. Workers could transfer their pensions under the public sector legislative rules into the public sector pension scheme. I am not sure how this legislation affects that transfer facility. While the onus may be implied, the Bill is too silent and we want to try to toughen it up on the employers’ responsibility. Aer Lingus has almost €1 billion in cash and a huge deferred pensioner body, and active membership and disputes continue. That is not good enough.