Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Last evening, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, signed two commencement orders to tear apart the pension entitlements of 15,000 members of the Irish aviation superannuation scheme, IASS. All Members will have been written to by retired people in their 60s, 70s or 80s who will lose a minimum of six weeks pay, which is a more than a 10% cut, and will carry the burden of this Government's pension levy which, for them, equates to 2.53% per annum for the rest of the term because €28 million was taken out of this under-funded scheme by the Government to pay for other things. Now these retired members, who worked in Aer Lingus, Team Aer Lingus and the Dublin Airport Authority, will lose six weeks pay.

Many of the people who will have written to Members are long-standing members of the scheme who have 30 years to 35 years' service and who are called the deferred pensioners. They paid into this pension scheme, on a compulsory basis, from the age of 20. They worked tirelessly to return Aer Lingus to profitability and for Team Aer Lingus, SR Technics and the Dublin Airport Authority. What has happened to them? What the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, did last evening will mean up 58% cuts in their pension entitlements. The average is 40% to 50%. There are 5,000 retired members and 5,000 deferred members, some 10,000 people and families. The 5,000 working members, who have been put into an inferior scheme, will also have their benefits cut.

What is really annoying me about this, and what I am disgusted about, is that only last week, the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection met some of the committees here to try to work towards a favourable solution which would not result in a 58% cut in some people's pensions and which would not take hundreds or thousands of euro from 70, 80 or 90 year old people.

What happened yesterday was that the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, signed the commencement orders even though nothing had come back from the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection.

Why did he do it yesterday? He did so because the debate on the Social Welfare Bill will take place in the Dáil this week, to which amendments have been tabled that will effect cuts to the IAS scheme under the State Airports (Shannon Group) Act. This was choreographed. Aer Lingus today announced that an EGM will be held in early December to vote on this issue. The Committee Stage debate here on the Social Welfare Bill will commence on 2 December. All of the amendments we have prepared in relation to that Bill will be negated because the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, has, in my view, subvented this process.