Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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486. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the extent to which he has been alerted to the possibility of the reduction of benefits to various pension fund subscribers throughout either the public or the private sectors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12830/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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If the funding of a pension scheme is not sufficient to satisfy the Funding Standard, the trustees may apply to the Pensions Authority for what is referred to as a “Section 50 order”. Under such an order, accrued benefits relating to members’ past service can be reduced.

Scheme members subject to a Section 50 amendment must be notified in advance of the proposed reductions. This notification must include the circumstances of the Section 50 application, and the proposed reductions, including general illustrations of their effect.

Members then have one month to make written observations on the proposed reductions, and the trustees must consider these observations before making an application to the Pensions Authority.

Neither the Minister nor the Department of Social Protection are notified of intended section 50 applications by trustees. I am advised that from 2009 until the end of 2016, the Pensions Authority has granted approval to 128 schemes to reduce benefits under section 50 of the Pensions Act.

Public sector pension schemes are under the remit of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform so I do not have any information on reduction in benefits for those schemes.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.