Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

That would not happen in a banana republic. Something will have to be done. There will have to be some inquiry to find out what went wrong with those pension funds and how it can be rectified. Anybody working and paying into a pension fund for so long is entitled to some pension. That should not be tolerated. The national pension fund is being raided to bail out the banks and we cannot leave people like that man, and many more of them in that situation, without a penny after paying their contributions. That is unjust and cannot be tolerated in this country. I call for an inquiry into the matter.

I also call for a jobs task force for Waterford. Not alone did we have last week's situation with Waterford Crystal, at Bausch & Lomb 1,400 people will work three weeks in every four and will take August off at their own expense, an effective cut of more than 25% in their wages. We have had jobs haemorrhaging from Waterford in the past six or eight months. That region and city needs and demands support from the Government. We expect the Government will give support and I call for that jobs task force to be established and for the situation regarding pensions at Waterford Crystal to be dealt with now.