Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Moriarty for coming in. I know he has time constraints so we will not delay him unduly. I want to ask a few questions on the documentation we received from the Oireachtas Library and Research Service. One of the objections it raised was on wind-ups being delayed as a result of this legislation. It made a few comments on that, but Mr. Moriarty has already answered the point very effectively about people being forced to wind up. This has been talked about for the past two years and that has not been reflected. One of the issues mentioned was that it might disproportionately affect younger members of the scheme, because the scheme would continue while the wind-up was postponed and the retired members would continue to get their entitlements, which might increase the deficit to the ultimate detriment of younger members. I would like to hear Mr. Moriarty's comments on that.

The Oireachtas report also states that there might be some constitutional difficulties about the legislation being possibly retrospective, and it goes on to say that it might force people to wind up before the legislation comes into effect, which seems to be contradictory. It also mentions that a law like this might put some employers at a competitive disadvantage, and that it might drive some companies into insolvency. Question were also raised about the first section of the Bill, which deals with appeals, and I might have to modify that, because I do not think I got what I wanted to get, now that I read the section again. Perhaps Mr. Moriarty could comment on those issues.