Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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It is a matter for the Deputy to progress this Private Members Bill.

At the Second Stage debate on the Bill, the former Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail outlined my Department's concerns in relation to the proposed Bill and these concerns remain.

To ensure that the views of all stakeholders were considered in relation to this issue, the Department ran a consultation process in March 2022 and all submissions received have been published on the Department’s website.

The Joint Committee on Enterprise Trade and Employment met in public session on the 25 January 2023 to discuss detailed scrutiny of the Bill. Following this meeting, my Department issued a detailed brief to the Committee as requested to assist with their deliberations. There has been no further correspondence from the Committee in relation to the Bill.

In April of this year, I and Minister Coveney met with you and a group of representatives of Retired Associations in relation to the Bill. At this meeting, a number of issues were raised with regard to the statutory protections in place for retired workers who have defined benefit contributory pensions. As the issues raised relate to pensions schemes and the operation of the Pensions Acts, Minister Coveney wrote to the Minister for Social Protection, Minister Humphreys, as the Minister who has the policy responsibility for the Pensions Acts.

Minister Coveney requested that officials in the Department of Social Protection might look at exploring whether it is possible to provide further space for the retired workers to be directly consulted in matters where changes to pension benefits are required.

It remains my position that any amendment to the legislation governing the pension rights of retired persons is not an industrial relations issue.