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

The Deputy asked me a direct question about a trustee which I cannot answer.

The Deputy asked about the responsibility of the different individuals who have been involved in this. The implementation and management of the pension fund in the first place is the responsibility of the trustees and I have to recognise that. The Deputy asked me what had happened. Nearly four years of work has gone into trying to come up with a resolution to this difficulty. Nearly every labour body or institution of the State has been involved in it. Various difficulties led to the appointment of a group of people who were charged with trying to resolve the issue. An expert panel was appointed to try to do it. Considerable effort has gone in to get it to this point.

I return to the figures with which I began. The scale of the deficit is now between €700 million and €750 million. Some people have suggested that I, having received a communication from the people whose job it is to run the fund that has a deficit of this magnitude, should not do what they believed was in the best interest of the fund. I took this very seriously. I considered all the consequences of what could happen if this resolution could not be delivered. Given all that had happened up to this point, I made the strong judgment that all the alternatives that were facing the fund were considerably worse than what is being faced at the moment. For those reasons I made the decision to enact the legislation that had been introduced because I had to respond to what the trustees of the fund were recommending. I looked at all the other options and consequences for everybody. It is apparent to me at the moment that they would have been dramatically more serious and unknown than what we are facing now.

I am acutely aware of people's concern over their future as a result of this matter. The Deputy asked me a question that I am not in a position to answer. However, if I can secure the information, I will come back to her.

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