Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators Norris, Darragh O'Brien and Power for their contributions. I will not go into detail because, quite rightly, the three Senators and Senator Mooney have debated this matter at length in the House with the Tánaiste. There are unintentional consequences regarding this amendment in that it would: have an impact on company debt, investment and growth; affect an employer's ability to raise funds; give a competitive advantage to employers which have never provided a pension scheme and those which have risk-free defined contribution schemes; and prompt well-funded schemes to be wound up in order to avoid further debt. I could read out a whole page of unintentional consequences relating to increasing the funding standard which would mainly benefit companies that have never provided pension schemes.We could undermine the financial viability of companies that have provided a pension scheme. The option of raising it must be thought out very carefully.

Senators Darragh O'Brien and Power argued their point very well with the senior Minister during the earlier debates on the Bill and I do not propose to revisit the relevant issues. I will not be accepting the amendments. I am very aware of the problems that arose with regard to the Aer Lingus superannuation scheme, often referred to as the IAS scheme. As was made clear during the debate on the State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014, no Minister could impose or prescribe solutions for the difficulties in the IAS scheme. These problems were always a matter for resolution by the trustees, employers, members and the Pensions Authority. In November 2014 the trustees of the IAS scheme applied to the Pensions Authority for a section 50 direction and submitted a funding proposal to address the deficit in the scheme. The trustees' proposal was later approved by the Pensions Authority and implemented on 31 December 2014. This involved the freezing of the scheme and a reduction in benefits for members. The employers' contribution was very substantial, amounting to €262 million. Given that a solution has now been adopted for this long-running problem, it would not be appropriate to accept these amendments.