Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I have a petition circulated to every Teachta Dála and Minister in the House from the workers at Irish Life who are about to take a ballot on strike action over their defined benefit pension scheme. I believe the Taoiseach has not signed it yet but I hope he will. It asks every Teachta Dála and Senator to recognise the absolute injustice being done by a company, which is solvent and very well off with a €240 million surplus in its defined benefit scheme, where it has withdrawn from talks and reduced its defined benefit scheme to the mercy of the casino stock markets while pushing its 1,000 workers into a defined contribution scheme.

We saw recently the turmoil in the stock market. This morning we were arguing about the plans the Government has made to ensure we all have a good future. When workers are left to the mercy of the gambling casino of the stock market, it means they have no guarantee of a good future. Indeed, they could be paying all their working lives into a pension scheme to find at the end of it, because of the behaviour of those who gamble, they will have no pension at all. We do not want to drive any more people into poverty or workers into worse conditions.

What does the Taoiseach think of companies like Irish Life, which out of the pure greed of making more profits, will withdraw, without any discussion, from such a scheme, leaving 1,000 workers at the mercy of the market? It is significant in the case of Irish Life because it administers most of the other pension schemes which exist in this country. There are over 100,000 workers on defined benefit schemes who will also feel extremely vulnerable if Irish Life gets away with this. When these workers vote to take strike action and stand up for themselves, I hope the Taoiseach and his Cabinet will support their petition. This goes to the heart of who is standing up for decent planning, justice and equality. If we throw these workers to the mercy of the market, more will follow. Will the Taoiseach condemn Irish Life for unilaterally withdrawing from a defined benefit scheme and forcing these workers to take action against the company?

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