Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

For me, the central issue in this matter is that employees were paying into a pension plan for many years. Initially the cost was 5% of their salary and since 2011 it has been 10% of their salary. That was paid in good faith with the belief they would have a pension when they retired. They have now been told that they will not have a pension and we can all imagine how they must be feeling. I am thinking about the human face of this. Some of these people have given 20, 30 and 40 years of faithful, loyal service to the CRC and to the very significant work that it does.

The affected staff were called to a meeting, they had no idea of the agenda and then they were given the catastrophic news about their pensions. My understanding is that there was no formal communication from the CRC or the trustee to the staff. One of the aspects is about the process. It is the complete opposite of what constitutes good practice in a wind-up; in fact, it is an example of bad practice, poor management, a very fast process and no consultation. There is also an aspect of a conflict of interest and of questions around the trustee, their fitness to practise as a trustee and whether they undertook the mandatory training and whether the staff even know who they were. It is appalling the way that the CRC staff have been kept out of the loop on this. The CRC was working away with legal advice, but the affected staff need access to that professional advice, legal and actuarial. I ask that the CRC would contribute to and support them in getting that advice.

Why did management make the decision to close the scheme? On what advice did it make that decision? Why were the staff not allowed to see that advice? It is an appalling example of very poor employer-employee relationships. All the staff have been left very much high and dry at this stage. I thought the CRC would be much more careful about this in view of the other controversies that have surrounded it in recent times.

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