Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

Last week a well known and reputable company in Dublin issued a letter to its employees stating it was no longer in a position to honour its commitment to a pension plan for them and that it would be winding it up. I have raised the pensions issue in the House on a number of occasions but it is reaching a new level when a company, which is doing well and whose directors paid themselves millions of euro in the past year by way of bonuses, is now winding up its pension plan and leaving its employees in a very worried state. In June 2003, we were told that no company had yet wound up its pension plan in this fashion. While I am aware of this matter because I was approached in regard to it, I do not know if other people are in the same position.

We hear much about pensions and the pension time bomb from the Government, but this is the type of time bomb about which I am concerned. It explains why so many people are not taking out pension plans or PRSAs but instead are investing their money wisely in the private housing market. The pension industry needs to be examined.