Vol. 554 No. 5
1272 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Transport if he has received a recent report regarding the grievances of the Retired Aviation Staff Association; if he will meet with the association with a view to resolving its members' pension grievances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16689/02]
The case made by the retirees' association was forwarded by my predecessor, Senator O'Rourke, for consideration to the Minister for Finance who has overall responsibility for pension matters in the public sector. The contents of his reply were communicated to the retirees' association in October 2001.
In summary, the Minister for Finance does not consider that it would be appropriate to accede to the request from the Retired Aviation Staff Association for an Exchequer injection into the pension fund and that there must be continued adherence to the long standing policy in this area, that is, that pension entitlements for employees of commercial State bodies, which include Aer Lingus and Aer Rianta, are matters primarily for the trustees, the members of the relevant scheme and the companies involved.
