Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
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497. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the measures his Department are taking regarding the IASS superannuation pension scheme deficit issue; if his Department are working on measures to ensure deferred members can be included in the ongoing negotiations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10800/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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As Minister for Transport Tourism and Sport I have no function in relation to the administration of the IASS. The resolution of the funding difficulties in the scheme, which has a substantial and unsustainable deficit of over €700 million, is primarily a matter for the trustees, the members of the scheme, the companies participating in the scheme and the regulator of such pensions schemes - the Pensions Board.

The trustees have recently announced that they have decided in principle on a number of changes to address the funding difficulties. In their letter to the Employers and the Unions the Trustees formally requested the Employers and the Unions to give appropriate consideration to the position of the deferred members in further discussions. The trustees, who are central to any solution to the funding difficulties, are required by law to act in the best interests of all members.  On that basis the trustees have to take account of the interests of deferred members in any proposals that it makes.

The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation has recently stated that it is actively considering issues in relation to the provision of access to former employees, including retired workers, to the industrial relations machinery of the State under the Industrial Relations Acts.

As the Deputy will be aware, an Expert Panel has been established to carry out a detailed investigation of how a final resolution of the industrial relations issues relating to the IASS can be secured.  That investigation will include discussions with relevant stakeholders and the Panel has been asked to make a preliminary report by the end of March.