Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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47. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the fact that a profitable company (details supplied) in County Meath has not provided for its employees’ pension scheme; and if she will amend legislation to place an obligation on profitable employers to fulfil pension related commitments to their employees. [49722/14]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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75. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will meet with a representative group of the Tara Mine pensioners to discuss proposed cuts to payments arising from the Social Welfare and Pension Act 2014. [1386/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 47 and 75 together.

Defined benefit pension schemes in Ireland are set up and maintained by employers on a voluntary basis. A statutory obligation on employers under Irish law to contribute to their pension scheme has never existed. The level of employer and employee contributions is agreed and established in contract in the Trust Deeds and Rules of each scheme when a pension scheme is established. The imposition of such an obligation on employers has been considered on a number of occasions in recent years. The issue was last considered in the preparation of the measures included in the Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Act 2013. However, it was decided not to proceed with such a measure given the current economic circumstances, uncertainties as to the overall impact on such a measure and the potential for unintended consequences.

I am aware that many pension schemes are encountering funding difficulties at this time.

A number of legislative measures have been put in place to assist employers and trustees of pension schemes respond to these difficulties. I hope that these measures will be of assistance in resolving the funding difficulties in the Tara Mines pension scheme. It would not be appropriate for me to engage with or comment on developments relating to a particular pension scheme as these are a matter for the management of the company and the trustees of the pension scheme.