Vol. 530 No. 3
221 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he has received a submission from the Brewery Retired Personnel Association in relation to their pension scheme and complaint regarding the deduction of the single rate of old age pension payment on reaching the age of 66 from their occupational pension; the action he will take in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3716/01]
I met a group representing both the retired personnel and staff associations of this company in October last. At that meeting a number of issues, including that referred to in the question, were discussed. I should also point out that the association has written to me on a number of occasions regarding this issue. The issue here relates to integration, a common feature of occupational pension schemes whereby the occupational pension takes account of the social welfare pension being received by the pensioner, so that the occupational pension effectively tops up the social welfare pension to provide the total pension specified in the rules of the pension scheme. The members of the association are dissatisfied at the way in which their employer's pension scheme operates integration in the case of early retirees from the company.
However, the arrangement being used by the trustees would have been agreed when the pensions scheme was originally set up and there is no breach of the Pensions Act. Therefore, as I indicated to the association at our meeting, I cannot become involved in what is essentially a private matter between a company and its employees as to how the company's pension scheme should operate.
Occupational pension schemes are voluntary arrangements and, as Minister, I have to ensure that a reasonable balance is maintained between protecting the rights of scheme members and interfering in the internal workings of a scheme which could impose additional costs on employers to the extent that they would be dissuaded from setting up new schemes or consider altering existing ones to the ultimate detriment of the members. Given the Government's stated goal of increased supplementary pension coverage and the commitment from employers in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness to extend coverage, such an outcome would be most unwelcome from the Government's perspective.
