Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

There are three different elements in the Bill that affect workers. The issue regarding insolvency only applies to the purchasing of what would be known in the open market as annuities, the purchasing of the PIPS, but the restructuring and the changing of the priorities will benefit a fund that is winding up, even if the company is not insolvent. Where the company is not insolvent but the pension fund is in deficit they can benefit from the restructuring elements but they will not benefit from the purchasing of the PIPS.

The purpose of all of this is to try to give as much as we possibly can to workers who have been paying into a scheme all their working lives, but this PIPS must be a scheme of last resort. It is important we do this so that we do not interfere with any state aid or competition issues. It is very confined in the companies to which it can apply and for that reason I cannot accept the amendment.