Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I want to raise the ongoing and deeply frustrating situation facing retired CIÉ pensioners in County Louth and across the country, many of whom have not received any pension increase since 2008. These are men and women who have worked for decades in public transport and who often kept the wheels turning in both good times and bad. Last May, after 17 years, CIÉ and the trade unions finally reached agreement on proposals that would allow for a long-overdue pension increase of up to 5%. Employees voted on these proposals in August and both pension schemes accepted the changes. On foot of these ballots, pensioners were told that the increase would be implemented before Christmas. Imagine their shock that instead of having something nice in their stockings, all there was was a lump of coal. Payments did not come through. It was only after Christmas that they were made aware of the additional requirements that might be familiar to the Tánaiste and me, but mean nothing to the ordinary man and woman on the street. These requirements were a business case from CIÉ, sign-off across three Government Departments, approval from NewERA and input from the Attorney General before the Minister could even put the draft statutory instrument in place. The expectation of a payment before Christmas did not arise.

A delay like this may seem bureaucratic but it undermines the credibility of those who make the promise and, as time flies, time for pensioners is truly precious. The increase involved is modest. For most people, it amounts to between €500 and €1,000 a year. However, there are pensioners struggling with rising costs for energy, food and healthcare for whom this is urgently needed. It is also important to state clearly that this increase applies to those who retired up to the end of 2022, people who have already given their working lives to public service.

My ask is quite simple. I ask the Tánaiste to call on the Ministers to expedite all remaining approvals, progress the statutory instrument as a matter of urgency, and ensure that retired CIÉ pensioners finally receive the increase they have been promised and have waited too long for.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank my colleague, Deputy Butterly, for raising this matter. I accept her challenge and request in terms of seeking progress and expediency in relation to this. I am also conscious of CIÉ pensioners who are probably watching this and thinking there has been nothing expeditious about it. I am conscious of that as I say it. I did speak with ministerial colleagues on this during the week and I know there is a shared sense of urgency to get this done for once and for all in the interest of these pensioners. I thank the Deputy raising it today.

Factually, issues in relation to CIÉ pensions are primarily a matter for the trustees of the pension schemes, which is the CIÉ group and their employees. The CIÉ group operates two defined benefit pension schemes, namely, the regular wages scheme, RWS, and the 1951 superannuation scheme. As I know Deputy Butterly knows, between 2008 and 2022 both schemes did not meet the statutory minimum funding standard which is required by the Pensions Authority. At the end of 2023, those schemes did meet that standard. The most recent CIÉ pensions proposal in 2025 was negotiated across a number of months between the group and the trade union group. I thank them for the work they did on this with the aim to ensure the stability of the scheme while crucially ensuring there was no reduction in benefits, and providing overdue increases, which is the nub of this issue, for CIÉ pensioners. A ballot on the proposal ran, I think, from 11 July to 15 August last year. The ballot passed both schemes on 19 August. Since then, and I acknowledge the work of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien on this, the Department of Transport has been working with its own financial and commercial advisers, including NewERA, to engage with all relevant stakeholders, whether that is the Pensions Authority or the Department of public expenditure, on the next steps to progress that agreement and bring CIÉ pensions onto a more stable footing for the benefit of active and retired scheme members. We do not want to see this ever happen again. As part of that, they are also reviewing all the relevant statutory instruments and of course the matter of increases to pension payments.

I am pleased to tell the Deputy that there has been very positive engagement between the Department of Transport and the Department of public expenditure and reform on the policy issues. Everybody is working now to really get the proposal reviewed and the relevant ministerial consents in place at the earliest possible time. I am struck by the point the Deputy made around proper communications in relation to this, though, being honest and blunt with people and not giving them a sense it is going to be on a particular date and then it ends up being at a further time. I will engage with Ministers and more broadly with the system in relation to that. I know it is something the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, would also feel strongly about. The main thing I want to say to the Deputy today is that there is very sincere, very intense engagement to try to get this matter resolved for once and for all, as expeditiously as possible, but also to make sure it is done in such a manner that it is stable going forward and we do not find ourselves in this situation again.

Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I am encouraged by the Tánaiste's words and by the fact that the Ministers are taking this very seriously. Time passes very quickly and the older you get, it passes even quicker. For a lot of these pensioners, what they are looking for is very modest but it will make a great difference in their daily lives. Time, for them, is really of the essence. I take the Tánaiste's point about communication. Fundamentally, that is the point here. They were promised that they would see it at Christmas but that probably was unrealistic. We have to be better at that. We always talk about the fact that we want to reward people who work hard. We should never forget and we must reward the people who have worked hard. They are essential. They are the reason the Tánaiste, I, the Opposition and everybody else are here today. They should be taken care of. Essentially, when we make a promise, we must keep the promise.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is right; time does not stand still. There are real people waiting for this increase, and waiting longer than they ever expected they would have to and longer than we would have wished. I acknowledge that. I also acknowledge that they are people who worked bloody hard in public service for the good of our country, through a great and proud tradition of working in CIÉ. Many of us know people in our community who served in CIÉ in our public transport or railway network over many years. We all want to get this resolved. To them today, I want them to know that there is real ongoing, active work on this between all of the relevant Departments, most crucially the Department of Transport and the Department of public expenditure and reform. I know everybody wants to bring this to a conclusion as expeditiously as possible. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to write to Deputy Butterly and keep her updated on the matter.