David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am covering for Senator Kathryn Reilly who is unavoidably absent and previously participated in the debate on the Bill. I was obliged to get up to speed not only with the substance of the overall legislation but also with the section under discussion. I concur fully with the previous speakers. If one considers the matter impartially, it is very clear that the section has no relevance to the Bill. If any of us as an Opposition Member tabled an amendment similar in tone to section 33, it would be ruled out of order because it would not be in keeping with the substance of the Bill.

As we know, the legislation involves a merger of two entities into the Shannon Group. It is representative of the pattern followed by the Government in ramming through the contents of its agenda without proper scrutiny or debate. I would have been of the view that the recent election results would have taught those in government a lesson. Unfortunately, that has not proved to be the case.

I agree with Senators Darragh O'Brien and Averil Power that, as a result of the sweeping changes to which section 33 will give rise to pension schemes, this matter should have been the subject of separate legislation. Had that been the case, Government and Opposition Members would have had the opportunity to properly probe, discuss and even amend the relevant legislation. Tacking section 33 onto the Bill before us is both sinister and completely unacceptable. It is unacceptable for a number of reasons: first, because it bears no relation to the substance of the legislation; second, because it will make sweeping changes to pension schemes; and, third, because the pension scheme to which it relates is the subject of an industrial relations process. What the Minister is trying to do is pull the rug from under those involved in the negotiations that are ongoing, which is both reckless and reprehensible. He will be obliged to account for this at a future date.

We should remind ourselves what section 33 intends to do. I want to see the section removed from the Bill and if the Minister was of a mind to come back with a separate Bill, we could examine its merits but not something that is tagged on to this Bill. Section 33 introduces changes to the contentious Irish aviation superannuation scheme which is in the middle of an industrial relations process. In March of this year, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Minister for Transport, along with IBEC, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and a number of experts, were tasked with seeking a solution to the stand-off between the employers and the trustees on a way forward to deal with the pension deficit of €700 million. That expert group still has not reported back, yet the Minister is asking us to support this section today, which essentially could pull the rug from under that process. I will not give the Minister support in his efforts to do that.

The Bill as currently drafted repeals a provision from the Aer Lingus Act 2004, which provided that members transferred out of the scheme should not have less favourable terms than the new one. I have no doubt, given that Fine Gael's fingerprints are all over this section, that if it is passed this Bill will not be in the best interests of the workers or their pensions. To be frank, something stinks about this and I am far from impressed by the Minister's stunt in tagging this onto this Bill. I concur fully with what previous speakers said. There are very strong objections and reservations to what the Minister has attempted to do here. If he really believed in what he was doing he would have brought forward a separate Bill. That he just tagged this on is despicable, but the Minister can account for himself. I will account for what I believe is the right thing to do and the right way for legislators to behave. This is not the way to do business. It is the same old, same old from this Government in terms of not allowing for proper scrutiny and debate because if that were the case, we would have this as a separate Bill.