Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In regard to the bonus scheme, Irish Water tried to describe this as part of the way salaries and wages were constructed. The implication was salaries were discounted where work was not done correctly and that the bonus was not part of a bonus culture. In regard to how salaries are constructed, is all of the income pensionable or is the bonus segment not and is the arrangement built into the contracts? If so, is there an issue in regard to contracts being binding? Clearly there would be an issue for the new board in terms of this changing.

In the context of security for workers in regard to their pensions, there would be concerns about the viability of Irish Water. I presume that if Irish Water becomes unviable in future, whether in six months time, five years or ten years time, the former local authority staff would be re-employed by local authorities and their pension liabilities would be picked up by them.

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