Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As Deputy O'Dea has said, these arguments have been thrashed out with the Tánaiste on many occasions by himself and Deputy Ó Snodaigh. In many ways, I am giving information that the Tánaiste has conveyed to them on several occasions.

Defined benefit schemes in Ireland are set up and maintained by employers on a voluntary basis. There has never been a statutory obligation on employers under Irish law to contribute to pension schemes.

The Deputies referred to the wind-up of schemes. The decision to wind up a defined benefit pension scheme does not rest with the sponsoring employer. It is a matter for the trustees of the pension scheme. The Deputies referred to that in their contributions.

I will go through the positives and negatives again if Deputies so wish. However, I am not prepared to accept the amendments at this stage. Although we are experiencing an improvement in our economic performance, the imposition of a significant additional cost on employers at this point may have a counter-productive impact with regard to the feasibility of the businesses and the jobs of those employed, given that many employers would lack the capacity to absorb the extra costs and the proposed changes could trigger the closure of schemes.

Given the uncertainty in respect of the overall impact and the potential for unintended consequences, legislative or otherwise, in applying debt on employers it is not proposed to make changes of this nature. The regime is considered as a package of measures that the Minister for Social Protection has introduced in recent years. The idea is to take an approach that can nurse and support schemes to move gradually to a more sustainable funding position. The Pensions Authority is working with and supporting schemes to achieve a more sustainable funding position.

The funding standard is the key instrument in monitoring the health of a pension scheme. The authority is paying particular attention to those schemes with weak funding positions. The standard was in abeyance from the end of 2008 until it was restored in June 2012. The reintroduction of the funding standard was to provide a clear view of the funding position of schemes. It will facilitate the restoration of scheme funding levels. In advance of the reintroduction of the funding standards the Minister introduced legislation to require pension schemes to obtain additional funding in the form of risk reserve to protect scheme members against further volatility in the financial market.

The objective in the short term is to support weaker schemes and enable them to get to a more sustainable funding position. In the medium term, the objective is to support all schemes to meet the requirements of the funding standard.

If arguments and disagreements cannot be resolved regarding the trustees or some other matter, they can resort to the courts. There are court proceedings over some schemes. I was in a defined benefit pension scheme because, unusually in this House, I have worked most of my life in the private sector. For private sector employees, it is always a concern. There would be unintentional consequences, however, if we accepted these proposals. They would have to be carefully studied before we go down that road. It is not my intention to accept these amendments.