Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to Deputy Bríd Smith and the People Before Profit activists involved in working on this Bill. In particular, pay tribute to the organisations of retired workers that have campaigned and fought on this issue and sought change. There is an extremely long list of them that is too long to read out.

There is a crucial context to the Bill, which is often apparent in the Dáil. That context can only be described as a war on pensions. It has been going on for a number of decades. Defined benefit scheme after defined benefit scheme has either been scrapped or downgraded to a yellow-pack defined contribution scheme. Three out of four defined benefit schemes have been closed, as bosses try to evade their responsibility to provide decent pensions. The downgrading of schemes to defined contribution schemes leaves people's pensions at the mercy of the casino of the stock market Having worked all of their lives, these workers want the right to retire in security and with knowledge of the incomes that they will receive.

We saw a similar reneging on the part of the Government in respect of its responsibilities when it tried to increase the pension age to 67 and then 68. I believe it would still like to do that but was pushed back by the reaction of voters in the general election. The Government strategy, as on so many issues, is to divide and rule. It is a case of young versus old and public versus private. In reality, the division in society is between the workers who created an enormous amount of the wealth in this country and who want to retire and those who benefit from that wealth.

Pensions are deferred wages. The right to a decent pension when you retire is one of the great achievements of the workers movement historically. It is also one of the great achievements of the social welfare states created in the aftermath of the Second World War. The attack on the very concept of pensions tells us a lot about modern capitalism and the priorities of the economic system. The truth is that we can afford decent pensions for all. Ireland is the fifth richest country in the world and has the fifth highest number of millionaires per capita.

Yet, the Government and the right-wing economic commentators claim it is a crisis that people are living longer as opposed to it being a good thing that they are living longer. They have created an enormous amount of wealth and, therefore, they should be able to retire in comfort.

The context of the Bill is that many people have found after retiring that their pension rights had been whittled away through negotiations at which they did not even have a seat at the table. We have had cases of direct cuts to benefits, freezes and more. They have no way to speak out, however. Once they are out of the workplace for more than six months, they cannot even go to the WRC. All they are demanding is the right to be consulted and to go to the WRC. It is a very simple and reasonable demand. They are demanding that retired workers be seen and heard when it comes to negotiations affecting their pensions. For too long they have been locked out, their representative groups have not been included and they have had no right to take cases to the WRC or similar bodies. This Bill from People Before Profit would fix that by giving retired workers the right to have their voices heard, putting them on a par with current workers and their unions. It has been endorsed by retired staff associations, representing hundreds of thousands of workers as well as Age Action and the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament.

The message is clear: do not gag retired workers, give them a voice. Yesterday, retired workers gathered outside Leinster House demanding that this Bill be supported. The Government's plan is to kick the can down the road yet again with a 12-month delay. Justice delayed is justice denied. We and the retired workers will not accept this stalling tactic. The message of the protesters to the Government was clear: they may be retired workers, but they are active voters. If the Government delays and denies this change, those people will not forget. Having worked all their lives, they are demanding basic rights and they will not put up with being told that they must wait.

I ask every Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Green Party Deputy who are thinking of supporting the Government's amendment to think again. If they vote to delay this Bill and silence those retired workers, they had better think twice before asking them for a vote in the next election. How those Deputies vote tonight will be a matter of public record, shared with those pensioners in their constituencies. If they deny the pensioners a voice, they may very well vote to deny themselves the opportunity to win back their seats in the next general election.

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