David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister does not believe it can be amended, but any Bill can be rewritten. I do not think the Minister has given sufficient justification for saying he will oppose the Bill. With Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil and some of the Independents, we have the numbers to get the Bill passed, which is new politics; therefore, the Minister will have to engage on the Bill. When hesays he will bring forward his own proposals in the near future, what does he mean by the near future? Is that weeks or months? When will it happen? When he says the proposals are carefully thought out, can he give us further clarity on exactly what are those proposals? How do they differ from those in this Bill? How will they make a difference to people who are affected by this issue?

The Minister should at least recognise there is good intent from this side of the House, from those of us in Sinn Féin, the author of the Bill and other speakers who are yet to speak. I hope, through the co-operation of everyone in the House and all parties, we can at some point get a Bill through that speaks to and deals with the real problems that many workers in defined benefit schemes have had to deal with over a long number of years. When the Minister gets a chance to respond, he might also address the Waterford Crystal pensions issue.

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