John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is not before time that the Government is attempting to get its act together on the defined benefit scheme fiasco. I am not surprised it took another directive from Europe, the EU insolvency directive, before the Government was motivated to put this legislation in place. Further clarification is needed on a number of fronts, notably the situation where a double insolvency arises in the context of a multi-employer scheme where all the employers are insolvent.

I also have a concern that this legislation will allow companies to wipe out their obligations to their pensioners and that the public will subsidise this. I am concerned that trustees will attempt to seek increasing contributions from an employer to bridge a deficit, to the extent that the employer is pushed into insolvency and the trustees can then avail of the State guarantee.

In the case of existing pensioners, are their individual means, including all outgoings, to be taken into account before their scheme funds are redistributed? These people will have worked hard all their lives and paid into pension funds under the impression that their income would be secure for the rest of their lives, but I do not think the circumstances of existing pensioners came into play in the drafting of this legislation. In bringing forward the Bill, the State says it has legally covered itself and that it complies with its obligations under the insolvency directive. However, the moral argument as to whether it is fair that a worker is guaranteed just 50% of his or her pension, despite having contributed to it for 30 or 40 years, is another matter entirely.

I have a strong suspicion that this legislation will not act as a definitive solution to the defined benefit pension crisis. No doubt the Government is acutely aware of the Robbins case in the UK, in which, in reacting to a similar European judgment to the Waterford Crystal case a number of years ago, it was ruled that the State must protect 90% of members' benefits, albeit up to certain limits, and that protection amounted to buying out the benefit for all members, including those yet to retire. There is a big difference between 90% and the 49% being guaranteed under this legislation. I would be interested to hear from the Government benches whether this legislation fully complies with the insolvency directive. In my view and in the view of legal people to whom I have spoken, there will be challenges to it.

There has been much palaver from the Government that this legislation will bring about fairness and equality for pension holders. This is untrue. If the Government was genuinely serious about equal rights for pension holders, it would cease its delaying tactics and address the issue of the Waterford Crystal workers' pensions that is currently before the High Court. Although these new rules will not apply to members of the Waterford Crystal pension fund, those 1,500 workers will get a minimum of 50% as a result of a ruling by the European Court of Justice this year. That ruling cannot be challenged. The ECJ has categorically said that the State did not take steps to protect employees when it was clear from the judgment in the Robbins case in 2007 that provision of 49% of employees' benefits was not sufficient protection.

Since the Waterford glass factory closed in 2009, some 23 former Waterford Crystal workers have passed away, without ever receiving even one cent of their pension entitlements. The lives of the remaining workers are on hold while the case continues to sit before the High Court. Many former Waterford Crystal workers tell me they and their families are now living on the brink of poverty. Despite having contributed to a pension for, in some cases, 46 or 47 years, they are now totally reliant on social welfare payments. They are borrowing to keep their heads above water. This is an appalling situation in the year 2013.

I have been repeatedly told that the Government cannot intervene in legal proceedings. I refuse to accept this. The State is, without a doubt, in a position to instruct its legal team to seek to make a settlement with the Waterford Crystal workers. I am told that, should the legal process run its full course all the way to the Supreme Court, it could be 2016 or beyond before these workers get fair treatment. This is unacceptable. These men and women who worked hard all their lives, who kept Waterford going through the recession of the 1980s, thought they had hit rock bottom when the Waterford Crystal factory closed and their livelihoods were wiped out. However, nothing prepared them for the shock, the humiliation and the anger that they now feel as the Government repeatedly kicks them while they were down by dragging them through the courts to fight for their entitlements. This is shocking and appalling.

I understand that the Waterford Crystal workers have been back in court this week and it is likely that the court will set a date for further hearings in February. However, there is nothing prohibiting a settlement being reached under the European directive. I appeal to the Department to consider this. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that a common agreement can be reached. If the Government is serious about treating workers fairly, it will immediately cease treating Waterford Crystal workers in this despicable way.

I remind the Government that 23 former workers have passed away. I am in contact with a worker currently who is critically ill, the father of three children. He has worked for 40 years with the company, but says he may be dead before his pension entitlements are paid to him. Surely, some compassion should be shown. Even if this man is only to be paid 50% or 49% of his entitlements, I plead with the Government not to drag him through the High Court and then to the Supreme Court.

It is not beyond the realms of possibility the Government can show some compassion. Let it negotiate with the UNITE union and the workers. Please do not drag them through the courts while more workers lose their lives.

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