Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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121. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding the pension deficit issue facing 5,000 members of the Irish airlines superannuation scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11365/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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You will appreciate that it is not appropriate for me to comment on issues arising in a particular pension scheme.

I am aware of the significant challenges encountered by many defined benefits schemes at this time. I also recognise the significant efforts being made by the employers and the trustees of pension schemes to secure the sustainability of pension provision.

In response to these challenges, I have made a number of changes to pension legislation in recent years to assist employers and the trustees of defined benefit pension schemes respond to the funding difficulties. In the recent Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Act 2013 I introduced measures to provide additional options to trustees of a pension scheme to restructure scheme benefits and to provide for a more equitable distribution of scheme assets in the event of the wind-up of a pension scheme. These changes essentially provide for the sharing of the risk of scheme underfunding across all scheme beneficiaries. The issue of how these changes might be applied will be a matter for the trustees of the scheme who are required under trust law to act in the best interest of all scheme beneficiaries

The Pensions Board is actively engaged with pension schemes to help them secure a sustainable funding position.