Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The attitude the Minister is displaying in the Chamber today will come as an awful shock to the working people of this country. Does he realise he is condoning an incongruous situation whereby the workers of a very profitable company with a pension fund deficit will be left with nothing? Moreover, many of those funds will not be in deficit within the next 12 months given that inflation and bond yields are coming back. Meanwhile, where there is double insolvency, that is, an insolvent fund and an insolvent company, the State has to ride to the rescue. That anomaly must be remedied and the only way to do so is through the legislation Deputy O'Dea and I are bringing forward. The Minister could have his input and we could resolve the matter in the Chamber. I am astounded the Minister, above all people, is becoming a prisoner of the bureaucrats in his Department. I never thought I would say that about him because he generally takes a great independent stance. I ask him to throw off the shackles of the Department and work with us to deal with this matter. We will co-operate with him to resolve it. It needs to be done within the next month because there is a cascade coming. These companies are running for the hills and they are not troubled firms. In fact, they are the corporate beasts of this country, some of which have tax-free status and pay nothing to the Exchequer. I advise people to watch this space in the coming month.

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