Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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127. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the concerns of the deferred members of the Irish aviation superannuation scheme about the potential for a 60% cut in their pensions due to a provision in the 2009 Social Welfare and Pensions Act; the action she will take in order that the potential reduction of 60% does not happen; the communication she has had with either the IASS trustees or the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport regarding the potential cuts [34183/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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While I am aware of the issues arising in relation to this scheme, you will appreciate that it is not appropriate for me to comment on issues relating to a particular pension scheme as these are a matter for the management of the company and the trustees of the pension scheme.

You will be aware that a number of changes were made to the Pensions Act in recent years to assist both the employers and the trustees of defined benefit pension schemes respond to the funding difficulties encountered by many schemes at this time. The Pensions Act was amended in 2009 to broaden the options available to the trustees of a defined benefit pension scheme in any consideration of a restructure of scheme benefits under section 50 of the Act to include the benefits of deferred scheme members and post retirement increases in pension benefits. Prior to the 2009 Act, only the benefits of active scheme members could be considered in a restructure of scheme benefits. The Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Act 2013 further extended the options available to the trustees of a scheme to include a portion of benefits payable to pensioners. These changes essentially provide for the sharing of the risk of scheme underfunding across all scheme members. The issue of how these changes might be applied is a matter for the trustees of a scheme who are required under trust law to act in the best interests of all scheme beneficiaries.

I understand that intense efforts have been made over the past months to resolve the issues arising in this scheme. These efforts included the introduction of legislation in the State Airports (Shannon Group) Act, 2014 and an examination by an Expert Panel of the complex industrial relations issues that remained to be resolved from the Labour Court recommendations. I understand that the Expert Group engaged with all the parties involved during its investigations.

I recognise the difficult challenges facing all involved and I hope that a solution can be found to resolve the issues arising.