Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sure I speak for everyone who would like to express their disgust and dismay on the scenes we saw last night with regard to Áras Attracta in Swinford. Obviously, it will take some time for the Government to respond. I see the HSE has made a comment already, but there is a wider issue here. The Leas Cross situation was in my own area ten years ago, which people will remember as quite similar to this but for more elderly people also. While the regulations have changed and improved and we hope that in most areas they are observed, situations like the one we saw last night are obviously unacceptable. We must do everything in our power to address it.

The people who perpetrated these acts are fully qualified. People can talk about management and resources but this involved a one-to-one patient to staff ratio. It was not about underfunding or lack of resources from what I could see. It was about the type of people and the lack of respect and dignity they afforded our most vulnerable people who need to be cared for. It is absolutely disgraceful. At the appropriate time, I am sure we will have a proper and meaningful debate on the matter. Perhaps, we can get the Minister in to see how we can ensure that these things do not happen in future. As I said, it is ten years since Leas Cross, but we are back here again.

I put colleagues on notice that Aer Lingus is holding its EGM at the airport in Swords at 2 p.m. today. The shareholders will vote today on the restructuring of the Irish aviation services scheme, which is, in effect, the airport pension scheme. This will affect all members of the scheme, including retired, active and deferred members. We have debated this up and down and I thank colleagues who have been supportive of my position and the pensioners. I remind Members that pensioners, some of whom are into their 90s, will lose six weeks' pay if the vote is passed at the EGM today. They will also carry the full risk of the pension scheme into the future and pay a levy of 2.53% per annum on top of that. Many of the deferred pensioners who have not yet retired will lose up to 60% of their benefits and existing staff will also take a cut.

We have pleaded and debated up and down with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, his predecessor, Deputy Leo Varadkar, and the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, on this but all to no avail. I have tabled amendments to the Social Welfare Bill next week and ask colleagues to look at them very carefully as they could have the effect of reversing some of these measures. The problem is that this is all being choreographed. In my view, it is a massive stitch up. Today, these companies and the Government will write off €500 million just like that with a vote. The irony is that the only people who will have a vote today are the shareholders of Aer Lingus, not the members of the pension scheme, including those who have retired and those who worked for 30 or 40 years in the companies. The Government and the Irish people have a stake in Aer Lingus of 25%. I would like to know what the Government's position will be at the EGM today. Will the Government vote for the restructuring of a scheme to reduce the benefits for the 15,000 people across these classes of scheme members or will it use the opportunity to oppose the restructuring?

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business for today to provide that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, comes to the House for just 30 minutes before 2 p.m. to answer questions as to how the Government will vote on the restructuring of the pension scheme. Why I say this is a stitch up is that all of the amendments we tabled - and which the Government was aware of - were ruled out of order in the Dáil. I have retabled them in the Seanad but, unfortunately, the EGM is today. Aer Lingus called the EGM the day after the changes to the scheme were passed. We have one last opportunity to do the right thing here. Can the Leader confirm how the Government is voting at the EGM this afternoon and respond to my proposal to amend the Order of Business?