John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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It is increasing. This is a serious problem which needs to be tackled.

There has been a lot of media focus on defined benefit schemes over the past number weeks, and rightly so. There have been some very high-profile cases. I will not get into all of them now but I know the Minister has in recent days been talking about this. It has been highlighted time and again that legislation is needed to improve the system here but it has not been brought forward. I ask the officials whether they have considered best practice adopted in other countries regarding defined benefit pensions. Are they aware of the system in place in the UK, for example, where a pension protection fund is in place? This pays some compensation to scheme members if employers become insolvent and there are not enough funds in the scheme for benefits to be paid. The scheme therefore has protections in place. The UK model seems to work very well. We need a pension protection fund here. Has the Department given this any consideration whatsoever?

I ask the witnesses to try to respond to the matters I have raised. I will see what kind of response I get and possibly contribute further.