Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I do not believe anyone in this House wants to see a situation where people do not receive the pension they had expected. I know that this has happened to a lot of people across the State, and not just in this particular scheme. It has also happened across the private sector where pension schemes have had to reduce the promised benefits because there just was not enough money in the pot.

One of the things we have is the State pension. The State pension is provided by the State and is a guaranteed income floor for everybody. As the Deputy has acknowledged, it has increased again for the third year in a row ahead of the rate of inflation. I accept that it is a small increase but it is the third year in a row that we have had an increase that is greater than the rate of inflation and the rise in the cost of living. I sincerely hope that we can continue to do that in the years ahead.

With regard to private sector, occupational or semi-State funds it works quite simply; money is paid in to the fund by the employees, money is paid in to the fund by the employers and when people retire, pensions are paid out of that. Of course, the amount that is paid in to the fund - and depending on how the fund is managed also - has to match the benefits. Many of these funds were set up in the 1970s when projections about life expectancy were very different to what they are now. In the 1970s the average life expectancy was 68 years for a man and for a woman it was a bit older. We have found that with a lot of occupational schemes the amounts paid in by employees and employers were not enough to match the promises made at the time. This has resulted in reduced benefits for many people. It is regrettable but I do not see any way of resolving it because it would not be fair on those people who do not have an occupational pension to be asked to fill that gap. I know that the Deputy is not asking for that.

The Deputy made reference to a second pension fund and I do remember she had raised it with me at the time and that she had spoken to my officials about it. If we can we will help but what can be done is quite limited because we must act within the law. This applies to me and to the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Regina Doherty also. The Deputy is aware that the Minister, Deputy Doherty is bringing the Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2017 through the House at the moment and that Bill is designed to strengthen the authority of the Pensions Authority when it comes to the wind-up of pension funds to ensure that people are properly treated.

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