Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House for this very important matter. We have seen considerable change in the set-up of local authorities over the last few years, something introduced by Deputy Noel Dempsey when he was Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Since that period, however, many things have moved on, particularly regarding pensions. We have seen how a previous Minister for Finance, former Deputy McCreevy, brought them to the top of the agenda. However, we find now that remunerated local authority members who pay PAYE and PRSI have no pensions even though employers are duty bound to put pension plans in place for employees. Most local authority members, including county councillors and borough councillors, most of whom work full-time for their local authority, have no pension plan. They get a gratuity when they retire, whether after five years or 30 years, but have no pension. The Government is correct to put the responsibility on employers to provide pension plans for employees because all of us, as we grow older, need the security of an adequate pension. Public representatives are employees of the local authority, as indicated by their payslips.

In view of the stringent controls being placed on employers in regard to pension provision, I hope the State will not renege on its responsibility in this regard. We have seen cases, most recently in regard to elderly people in nursing homes, where the State has been obliged to repay benefits that were due. We do not want to find in 20 or 30 years time that cases can be taken against the State because of its failure to put the proper mechanisms in place to provide pensions for local authority members.

I appeal to the Minister of State to give a progressive response to this matter and ask that it be put at the top of the agenda, as it should be. We must deal with the situation of those local authority members, many of whom are employed in a full-time capacity, who pay PAYE and PRSI but have no pension plan and no prospect that such a plan will be put in place.