John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his answer to my question on the issue of defined benefits. As he highlighted, this committee is aware of the issues. Our specific concern is that the heads of the scheme were published, Second Stage was dealt with and now we are in a vacuum. Once the Government published the heads of the scheme and we completed Second Stage of the Bill, a vacuum was generated. In other words, the Government has shown its hand and shown us what it plans for the future yet there is no delivery or protection. That happened in the summer of last year. At the start of this year, I specifically mentioned Irish Life because the company is in surplus, yet there is no protection for all of the people concerned. Had the legislation been dealt with effectively, the issue facing the employees in question on 30 June next could have been addressed. The Taoiseach was correct that a diminishing number of people are members of a defined benefit pension scheme but that does not mean we should not look after them. I am concerned that if we do not complete the Bill, other pension providers may also act, especially as the Government has shown its hand. Such a scenario will cause reputational damage to pension schemes generally and will have a negative consequence as we roll out automatic enrolment in the future.