Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister coming to the House at short notice. I put forward an amendment to the Order of Business this morning which was accepted and I welcome his attendance.

It is just one day since we received good news in the context of Waterford Crystal because of a European Court judgment. Waterford Crystal is doubly insolvent. It is an insolvent company with an insolvent pension scheme. We crunched the numbers in regard to Waterford Crystal workers versus deferred members of the IASS scheme, which is a profitable company with hundreds of millions of euro on deposit.

They are worse off now, to the tune of 15% to 20%, compared to Waterford Crystal workers. The Minister said that the resolution of the IASS funding difficulties is primarily a matter for the trustees, the companies participating in the scheme, the scheme members and the Pensions Authority. If that is the case, why did the Government bring forward legislation, the State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill, to allow this? It is the first time a Government has legislated for a specific private pension scheme. The Government did that on the back of what the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, did in the social welfare and pensions legislation in which she changed priority orders and actually brought in single insolvencies. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, referred to the legislation of December 2013, in which a roadmap is set. It is gravely disappointing.

I welcome the fact that the Minister met the deferred members. He will be aware that there was protest in the airport today by the Retired Aviation Staff Association, RASA, and deferred members that was attended by my colleague, Senator Averil Power. Are the Minister and his pensions officials in the Department aware that the retired members will carry the full risk of that scheme into the future? Not only will they lose six weeks' pay, they will also carry the burden of a 2.53% continuing levy. That is just the retired members, not to mention the deferred members. One man whom I have met is due to retire next March. He will lose 48% of his pension. If that was happening anywhere else, there would be uproar.

The Minister has not seen people on the streets about this because there are 15,000 people involved. Trust me, however, that what the Government has done with this scheme will happen to most of the other commercial semi-State companies. It has provided a roadmap. Today, the Minister, on behalf of the taxpayer, acceded to these savage cuts in existing pensions, retained benefits and to existing members who have been bullied into an inferior scheme. Aer Lingus and the other companies have effectively written off €500 million as a result of the Government introducing legislation which was voted for by Fine Gael and the Labour Party. The nature of the cuts is disproportionate. I acknowledge that the Minister has spoken to the people concerned, but how would he feel about this? Does anybody think this is fair?

The Minister said the deficit is €700 million to €750 million. He also confirmed that the deficit has doubled in the last two years. Why has it doubled? The companies starved the scheme of money. Unfortunately, I only have four minutes to speak. This is the first time something such as this has happened. We will continue to fight this in the debate on the Social Welfare Bill next week. The Tánaiste should be ashamed of herself. She met these groups and gave them false hope three weeks ago. She sat at the table and said that she would examine a more workable and fairer solution. What has happened here today is the final insult. The State has used the taxpayers' share in Aer Lingus to vote for savage cuts to existing members of this scheme.

There are other ways of dealing with this. The Minister did not have to do this by 1 January next. He went ahead and signed the commencement orders, but we have tabled amendments for next week. What has been done with this scheme will be done with countless schemes throughout the country. The Minister has given free rein and a roadmap to all employers, be they the State, semi-State or private companies, effectively to write off any pension debts that exist. The people who will pay for it are the people who have been encouraged by successive Governments to make provision for their retirements. It is absolutely outrageous and disgraceful.