Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister's understanding and his sympathetic approach to this matter. I hope he will consider such a protective fund for the consumer. I do not accept that people are moving from defined benefit schemes to defined contribution schemes in the UK as a result of the charge. I believe people would be willing to pay if they thought their funds would be protected. It is like an insurance policy. That makes sense to me, as there is no protection for them at present. It is something worth examining. I believe there would be a large take-up if people could pay an insurance fee to protect and hold on to their defined benefit schemes.

I thank the Minister for the figures he outlined. As I have only raised the matter I accept that they may not be comprehensive in terms of the number of schemes that are underfunded or have been wound up. If my calculation is correct, 232 schemes were either underfunded or were wound up in 2004. That is a worrying increase on the 2003 figures.