Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will endeavour to do so. I want to raise an important issue that affects hundreds of former Waterford Crystal workers, some of whom join us in the Gallery. It is a group that has campaigned on this matter for years. The workers said Waterford Crystal Limited failed to properly inform them of their pension options when they were taking redundancy. This left them without an occupational pension and reliant on the State pension. I met a group of workers in Waterford recently. They are very angry and they believe, with good reason, that they have never gotten a fair hearing. The workers say the company misinformed them by offering them only one pension option, that is, the return of their pension contributions. By accepting this, workers claim they were unknowingly signing away their pension rights. The workers say they have never received any paperwork whatsoever outlining all of their options. Surely if proof exists of options being afforded to them, it should be produced but it has not been. I ask the Taoiseach to intervene in this very serious ongoing saga. I ask him to meet these workers, hear their case fully, have that case fully and independently examined and give these workers what they deserve, namely a fair hearing.

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