Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In the case of the commercial State bodies, what generally happens is an assessment is carried out by the line Department. It has to have regard to the scheme trustees and make sure the benefits are protected for all the members. It will then make a recommendation. In some instances, the recommendation will come to my Department for approval and sign-off. I make sure those issues are dealt with quickly. For example, a recommendation was recently made to the line Department that there be a 2% increase in the pension for former RTÉ employees. That made its way to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and I signed off on it. That is the process that is in place. One has the specific details of an individual scheme and one must recognise the role of trustees of the scheme, the fact that there are existing and future pensioners and the role of the line Department. My Department is at the end of that line and the matter comes to us when we have a full assessment of the situation and a recommendation that takes account of all of those factors.

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