Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will be moving amendment No. 26. If I understand the section correctly, it does not give the pension authority the right to override trustees, as that right has existed since 1990 and arises in pensions legislation. When trustees get a unilateral direction from the Pensions Authority to restructure the fund, it puts an obligation on the trustees to inform the pensioners, which is some sort of progress.

I agree with Deputy Daly about the issue of appealing to the High Court. I could not believe my eyes when I read that people could appeal to the High Court. It is prohibitively expensive and difficult, as it involves contacting solicitors, senior counsel and all sorts of such characters. Surely to goodness there can be an appeal and if the Labour Court is not appropriate, it could go to some other mechanism that could be reached quickly and relatively inexpensively. The thought of appealing some aspect of a direction to trustees or how they deal with it to the High Court is farcical.

My amendment deals with the fact that an extra obligation is being put on trustees but there is no sanction in certain legislation if trustees do not comply with it. The Minister's able replacement mentioned that it was already covered so will the Minister clarify that? What is the sanction if trustees fail to inform members of a direction from the Pensions Authority?

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