Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have to make a number of points that relate to the Bill because they relate also to what the Bill is not doing that it had the opportunity to do. I will not speak at length on this issue but I will point out that the proposals were within the OECD guidelines and were part of that wider package of pension reform that was debated in great depth on Committee Stage in this House. The proposals were part of that wider picture and as I have indicated, we have also debated this on the Finance Bill. There has been a shocking betrayal of trust in the payments and in what has been done with the Independent News and Media pensions, and especially around the 2013 agreement. I am not the first person to raise this issue. It is relevant because this has been raised with regard to the Social Welfare Bill in 2014 and in 2015 by Deputies Róisín Shortall and Willie O'Dea. Again and again the opportunity has been put forward to take action on this measure and the opportunity has not been seized in between. That is unfortunate. In 2013 many of those who worked in Independent News and Media took a 40% loss in their pension fund. We must bear in mind that it is not just journalists who lost; it was also administrators, some of whom went from a pension of €23,000 down to a pension of €14,000. Decisions made at the recent emergency general meeting by Independent News and Media will mean that pensions for similar administrators - many of whom are women - will pay only €8,600 and €16,000 in some cases. There are also many couples working at the company who will suffer double losses. There is a very real impact and this was an opportunity to take action. It is of real concern because the response is what previous Ministers for social welfare have always replied; they have always said that they would address this through the Pensions Authority or the trustees and it is their role. We have seen a massive disrespect for the Pensions Authority and for the trustees. The chairman of the trustees of Independent News and Media has said there was no legal or moral justification for the fund being cut. We know the company is solvent and that it has €86 million in cash reserves.