Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

This did not happen on the Minister's watch. It happened on the watch of many others over the years, but what is happening now is on the Minister's watch. Only a few days ago the situation at Waterford Crystal was solved. It was solved by having the taxpayers put their hands into their pockets for €180 million or so. Clearly, this is an occasion in which we face a challenge. I recall when H. Williams, a large supermarket company, went out of business 30 or 40 years ago. It had been in business for almost 100 years and it told its employees that their pensions, at least, were safe. However, those employees lost their pensions because whoever bought the company was able to spend money on that basis.

The real concern here is whether this is a precedent. I believe it is, and it is one that will come back and bite us very seriously. I do not have an easy answer but if we are going to solve these problems in the future, we must at least recognise that the challenge exists and is getting bigger. The State owns these companies, or has a very large shareholding in them. The onus of responsibility, therefore, to a large extent is on the owner of the company as against a private company. The State did not own Waterford Crystal. In this case the State has a very large shareholding and it has the onus of responsibility to solve this issue in whatever way possible.