Mr. Terence Ahern:

It is important to repeat that contributions to pension schemes to meet the funding standard do not have to be cashflow contributions. They do not have to be liquid cash. It is not necessary to put cash on the table. It can be done by way of surplus assets which are not required for operations, in particular surplus property assets. Anyone keeping an eye on the property pages of national newspapers will be aware that CIÉ has gone to the market looking for developer agreements for property sites in Dublin, Galway, Cork and Limerick. These are surplus assets which are not required for operations and that is permitted by the Pension Authority. When we talk about contributions, it is important to be clear that we are not talking about cash. It can be budget or cashflow neutral. A very important detail about contingent assets is that they do not have to be sold. Some legal charge would be put on them but as a scheme recovers, they can be returned to the employer. They do not have to be sold. Likewise with unsecured undertakings, such undertakings can be revoked and returned to the employer according as schemes recover.