Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is a private pension fund. I am very much aware of the consequences that people are facing as a result of this. However, if I had not signed the commencement order, the Deputy would now be asking me why I had not done so. A pension fund with 15,000 members and a deficit of €750 million would have been facing unknown consequences. There would have been consequences for people who are already drawing on the pension fund. Other bodies, including the trustees and the Pensions Authority, would then have had to make a decision as to what to do.

This is a privately owned pension fund upon which a large number people are reliant. With the choices available to me, I am trying to salvage funding to deliver the best possible chance to people of having a pension in the future. I reiterate that it is a private pension fund. Is the Deputy suggesting that the taxpayer should make a contribution to that? If I had not signed the commencement order, the Deputy would be in here asking me why I had not done that and why a fund upon which so many people are reliant was facing an even higher level of risk than at the moment.

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