Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

It is not possible to have any weaker supervision arrangements than we have had in place up to now. There has been a lack of effective regulation in this area. Another aspect that is of equal importance was the lack of awareness among employees of the risks to which they were being exposed in that they are only now discovering, in the light of what has happened in Waterford Crystal, the risk to which they are exposed in terms of their pensions. Is the Government considering providing any type of State guarantee for occupational pensions schemes that are in deficit? The Minister said she is examining this area and that a report will be published. When will it be published? Can she at least advise the House today what exact area she is examining in this context? Is this issue being examined in that context? Is the Government considering providing any type of State guarantee for these schemes? Effectively, a massive failure of regulation has exposed hundreds of thousands of people at this stage. The schemes were too heavily invested in equities. In good times they were able to take money out. Now we see the result with approximately 90% in deficit. When does the Minister expect the results for the 1,355 schemes so that we can get an accurate figure rather than that 90% assumption?

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