Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister's response. She is right that the trustees have huge power in this area and that is where it really rests. That is a legislative shortcoming and I welcome the Taoiseach's remarks last week that the area is under review and that the Pensions Authority is going to look at making sure that trustees behave in a more accountable and transparent way. I welcome that the Pensions Authority has agreed to examine this area. I have a word of warning on that, since we are never happy. This scheme has been delayed in its wind-up for a number of years. Millions of euro have been bled out of it while the trustees waited to decide what to do. The resources were in cash and were effectively losing money. It consumed €2 million between 2015 and 2016 in professional fees and so on, just by sitting there. A further delay runs the risk of that situation. Members are very keen to have the financial interests distributed, but they want them to be distributed in a fair way where staff have options and a way of addressing the matter. That is my word of caution. Hopefully, the intervention by the Pensions Authority will be timely and measured but it is important that we go back to the drawing board on it because while there is a method of distribution, it is one of madness and needs to be changed.

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