Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 167: To ask the Minister for Finance in his consideration of extending tax breaks to the Eircom Employee Share Ownership Trust scheduled to end in 2014, if he has considered the contingent/potential cost to the tax payer for any shortfall in the pension fund over and above that provided by the company at the time of privatisation in respect of members of staff of the former Department of the Post and Telegraph; the cost in relation to this pension issue and the cost of extending the tax breaks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18659/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I assume the Deputy is referring to my conditional undertaking to bring forward legislative changes to provide for an extension in the time period in which ex-employees can benefit from the tax treatment available for shares allocated via an Employee Share Ownership Trust (ESOT). If this change is implemented, it would apply to all ESOTs. The introduction of the extension would effectively have little or no cost. This is because, in the absence of the extension, the ESOTs would merely allocate the shares they already hold in advance of the existing deadline. Thus, the measure, if implemented, would defer the cost to the Exchequer of the scheme rather than impose an additional cost. In relation to the pension fund at Eircom, I would not necessarily see any significant link between the two issues. The Eircom No. 2 Pension Fund is to provide for the pension liabilities arising from the pre-vesting day service of former civil servants who were employees of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, many of whom are not members of the Eircom ESOT. As regards the Fund, my Department maintains contact with the trustees and would be cognisant of the potential cost to the Exchequer in the event of a shortfall in the fund over and above what was provided following the privatisation of the company in 1999. No shortfall is anticipated to arise in the medium term. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform will keep the matter under review in consultation with the trustees of the scheme.