Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will not be accepting the amendment. As I made clear previously, I cannot impose or prescribe solutions for the current difficulties in the IAS scheme. These are matters for resolution by the trustees, the employers and the Pensions Authority. If this amendment is accepted, it would add a further constraint to what is already a highly complex and inflexible pension scheme. It also carries the implication that the scheme could continue indefinitely with an unresolved substantial deficit in a manner that would be in conflict with the Pensions Act 1990. That is not a tenable situation. The Pensions Authority, as the national regulatory body for pensions, will be the ultimate adjudicator on any decision to wind up this scheme if the parties cannot agree on solutions consistent with the 1990 Act. As I explained last week, I am providing in the Bill for an alternative to a wind up situation should it prove impossible for the parties to agree an acceptable and sustainable way forward. Separately, and based on my own reading, the amendment may be flawed in terms of its intent because it provides that the scheme could not close except where it has reached a minimum funding standard of 90%. A simple way to reach a 90% standard is for the trustees to savagely slash the benefits. I imagine that is not what Senator Power is proposing but it appears that her amendment would allow that as a potential solution.

On Committee Stage I made an observation on the proposals issued by the trustees last March. I implied that the proposals were disproportionate as far as the deferred pensioners were concerned. The trustees have since been in touch with me to point out that what they are proposing is exactly the same for both active and deferred members of the IAS scheme. When I spoke on this last week, I meant to say that I regard the overall package, which incorporates substantial cash contributions from the employers as well as the trustees' proposals, as capable of being improved on as far as the deferred pensioners are concerned. These proposals are subject to ongoing discussions and the trustees have also asked that the position of deferred members and pensioners be taken into account in those discussions. Following a commitment I gave in this House, the expert panel has agreed to meet with the group representing deferred members.