Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the two Deputies for raising this important issue.

I should make it clear that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport has no function in regard to the administration of the Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme, IASS. The resolution of the funding difficulties in the IASS is primarily a matter for the trustees, the members of the scheme, the companies participating in the scheme and the regulator for such pension schemes, which is the Pensions Board.

There are many features of the IASS scheme that make it quite distinctive. One is the fact that the scheme has a very high proportion of deferred and pensioned members compared with active members. Only the active members and their employers are still paying contributions into the scheme.

Both Deputies have raised the issue of representation of deferred and pensioner members. It should be pointed out that the trustees of the scheme, who are central to any solution of the funding difficulties, are required by law to act in the best interests of all the members. On that basis the trustees have to take account of the interests of the deferred and pensioner members in any proposals they make.

The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is responsible for labour and industrial relations policy and the Department of Social Protection is responsible for pension policy. Pension related matters are increasingly arising in industrial relations disputes, and the issue of how pensioners and deferred members are represented in the negotiations around such disputes is an issue. I am aware that this is a matter that is under active discussion between the two Departments concerned. The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation has stated recently that it is actively considering issues in relation to the provision of access to former employees, including retired workers, to the industrial relations machinery of the State under the Industrial Relations Acts.

Another particular feature of the IASS is the fact that it is a multi-employer scheme involving the Dublin Airport Authority, Aer Lingus, the Shannon Airport Authority and SR Technics. There are around 14,800 members in the scheme, which is now closed to new members. It is estimated that Aer Lingus membership constitutes around 69% of the total, with DAA-SAA representing 26% and the former SRT workers representing 5%.

The scheme currently has a substantial and unsustainable deficit and the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, has encouraged the parties to continue to use the State's labour relations machinery to resolve the difficulties. The parties participated in extensive discussions with the assistance of the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court to identify solutions. In May of last year, the Labour Court issued recommendations on the matter, including separate recommendations in regard to Aer Lingus and the DAA. A range of meetings involving the parties have taken place since then.

The first step in the process of implementing a solution to the funding difficulties is for the trustees of the scheme to submit a funding proposal to the Pensions Board, as required under the Pension Acts. The trustees announced on 14 February last that they have decided in principle on a number of changes to address the funding difficulties. I welcome this first step as I believe this will assist the parties to refocus on workable solutions to the funding problems in the scheme.

The proposed measures include a number of cuts to current and future pension benefits, which would affect all categories of scheme members, including active members, deferred pensioners and pensioners. In their letter to the employers and the unions, the trustees formally requested the employers and the unions to give appropriate consideration to the position of the deferred members in further discussions.

The problems with this scheme have been well recognised for many years and must be resolved. This is in the interests of all members of the scheme. Now that the trustees have issued their proposals, I would urge all parties to engage again, utilising the State's labour relations machinery where necessary. Any industrial action would not help such a process but rather inconvenience passengers and damage the financial position of the companies, which will ultimately, along with the scheme members, have to contribute to the resolution to the problems of the scheme.

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