Averil Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 9:

In page 26, to delete lines 16 to 40 and to delete pages 27 to 31.

This relates to the superannuation schemes and to Irish aviation pensions. When Members debated this issue on Tuesday, I welcomed the assurance the Minister gave to the House that the expert panel would meet the deferred pensioners before drawing up its report. I then received correspondence from the deferred pensioners who stated they were concerned that while they had been given a meeting date, which was today, they had heard on RTE news that the report would be published tomorrow. Obviously, this gave them some cause for alarm because they were wondering whether the report already had been pretty much written before they had had their meeting. However, just before coming into the Chamber, I received a telephone call from one of the pensioner representatives who attended the meeting this morning with the expert panel. The pensioner representatives were told quite clearly by the representatives of the expert panel that the report, which is to be published tomorrow, next week or whenever - the Minister might indicate to the House when precisely he expects this to be - will not refer to pensioners or deferred pensioners in any way because the terms of reference for the expert panel referred only to the Labour Court and Labour Relations Commission recommendations. Because the pensioners are not part of that process, the report will not refer to them, to their entitlements or to changes thereto and how they will be affected.
This is incredibly unfair. Senator Darragh O'Brien and I have raised in the past the issue of the role of the pensioners and deferred pensioners as part of this process. It is important that an agreement is reached that is fair to everyone. However, for this to happen, every group must also have its voice heard as part of that process. This is extremely unfair and I ask the Minister to ensure the report is not published until a way is found to make sure it will take into account and will reflect the concerns of the pensioners and the deferred pensioners. If this requires the Minister to contact the expert panel to request it to take those concerns into account, I ask him to so do. I welcomed the Minister's comments the other day when he stated the panel would meet the deferred pensioners and would take them into account. However, it now appears as though that meeting merely was a cosmetic exercise because, straight away, they were thanked for coming but told the panel could not take into account their concerns and that they would not be referred to in the report. This is incredibly unfair and it is incumbent on the Minister to act before the report is finalised to ensure these issues are addressed properly.