Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The previous Government introduced increased protections for deferred members of defined benefit, DB, schemes that were wound up. The wind-up priority order was amended in the Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Act 2013. Prior to those changes, pensioner benefits were given priority over the benefits of active and deferred member schemes. The changes to the wind-up priority order deprioritised a portion of pensioner benefits in the manner in which the resources of a scheme are distributed on the wind-up of a pension scheme. Those changes made more resources available to current workers in defined benefits schemes. The Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2012 required that a DB scheme hold additional funding in the form of a risk reserve by 2023. We have already made significant changes to how defined benefit schemes are managed. The Deputy is well aware that we have current legislation that has passed Second Stage.

See this speech in context