Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Initially a proposal was put to the then Government to resolve this issue, which seemed to make a lot of sense at the time, but was rejected by the then Minister for Finance. It is important to point out that the European Court of Justice, ECJ, has found in favour of the workers on all fronts and on the major points that were put before it. That is the backdrop to this. It makes no sense to expose the taxpayer to further liability. On the face of it, it would seem that annual payments represent a much more efficient approach than settling for an unknown capital sum that will be decided by the courts. Annual payments avoid the need to purchase annuities to settle the matter because annuities are a very expensive way of generating pension income for people. Taking that approach would also avoid the additional legal costs involved, which are probably very significant. On behalf of the workers, and the Irish taxpayer, I urge the Minister to enter into discussions on finding a resolution to this issue and not to leave it to the High Court to decide.

Workers in other companies, both solvent and insolvent, deserve to be adequately protected. A solvent employer should be required to stand over the pension commitments it made to workers in the past. Where the employer is insolvent, a safety net is required, as has been implemented in the UK and other jurisdictions. This Government continues to be irresponsible in its failure to legislate in this area.

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