Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Question 18: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs her plans to introduce a pensions protection fund to provide protection for defined benefit scheme members in the event that a scheme is wound up with insufficient resources; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17068/09]

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 27: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the percentage of pension schemes failing the minimum funding standard; the number of schemes this includes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17077/09]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 34: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of defined benefit pension schemes that fail the minimum funding standard; and the number of these that are below 25% of the standard, 50% of the standard and 75% of the standard respectively. [16988/09]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 55: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if her attention has been drawn to the fact that workers in a company (details supplied) who are to lose their jobs in 2009 will also lose their pension entitlements despite the fact that some of them have made the full 40 years worth of contributions; the action she is taking to protect the pension entitlement of such workers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16990/09]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 56: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the action she is taking to protect the pension entitlements of workers at a company (details supplied). [16999/09]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 62: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she is satisfied that Ireland is in full compliance with Directive 80/987/EEC; and her intentions to amend legislation arising from Court of Justice judgment in case C-278/05. [16989/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 18, 27, 34, 55, 56 and 62 together.

Under the Pensions Act, defined benefit pension schemes must meet a minimum funding standard which requires that schemes maintain sufficient assets to enable them discharge accrued liabilities in the event of the scheme winding up.

Where schemes do not satisfy the Funding Standard, the sponsors/trustees must submit a funding proposal to the Pensions Board to restore full funding within three years, although as part of recent temporary measures announced by the Government, the Pensions Board can now allow a scheme ten years or more to meet the standard in certain circumstances.

There are currently 1,355 defined benefit schemes subject to the funding standard. It is estimated that in excess of 90% of defined benefits pension scheme are in deficit. However, the full extent of the level of under-funding will not be fully apparent until all schemes carry out their next actuarial assessment and report the results to the Pensions Board.

As the Deputies are aware, the regulation of pension schemes in Ireland is provided for by the Pensions Act. In an EU context, Article 8 of Directive 80/987/EEC provides that Member States shall ensure that the necessary measures are taken to protect the interests of employees and of persons having already left the employer's undertaking or business at the date of the onset of the employer's insolvency. In its review of the transposition of that Directive, the EU Commission, at the time gave an assurance that Ireland had adequately transposed the provision in that Directive. Accordingly, the implications of the more recent ECJ judgement are being assessed to see to what impact, if any, it might have on Ireland.

The Government is very conscious of the pressures on both sponsoring employers and pension scheme trustees, arising from the very significant losses incurred by pension funds over the last 18 months. We are anxious to ensure, in so far as we can, that those involved have sufficient time and space to fully assess the implications of the current difficulties for their schemes and the remedial action they can take.

Indeed, this was the thinking behind the recent implementation of a number of measures to ease the pressures being felt by many pension funds. Those measures included the granting of extra time for schemes to formulate funding proposals and allowing longer periods for recovery plans.

Furthermore, just this week I have introduced changes to the 1990 Pensions Act to allow for the restructuring of underfunded schemes; to ensure a more equitable distribution of assets in the event of the wind-up of a defined benefit scheme and to strengthen the powers of the Pensions Board in ensuring that pension contributions deducted from wages and salaries are remitted by employers to scheme trustees.

I also introduced on behalf of the Minister for Finance, the Pensions Insolvency Payments Scheme to reduce the cost of purchasing pension payments for trustees of pension schemes where the employer has become insolvent.

The Government is continuing to consider a number of options in relation to the ongoing security of pensions. Any decisions in this regard will be made in the context of the National Pensions Framework which will be finalised shortly.