Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 September 2014
634. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to set out his views on whether deferred members of the Irish aviation superannuation scheme could potentially lose 60% of their potential benefits under revised proposals for the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37174/14]
View answerResolution of the funding difficulties of the IASS is primarily a matter for the Trustee, the companies participating in the scheme, the scheme’s members and the Pensions Authority. The process currently underway involves all these stakeholders.
There are over 5,000 deferred members of the scheme and I do understand their concerns in relation to the funding of the scheme. However, such matters are governed by the Pension Acts, which fall under the responsibility of my colleague the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection.
Pension schemes are closely regulated under Irish and European pension law and the Pensions Authority is the national statutory regulatory authority in Ireland. There are prescribed procedures and limitations in place governing any reductions in pension rights introduced to address funding difficulties in a scheme such as the IASS.
The Pensions Acts have been amended over recent years to provide for the sharing of the risk of scheme underfunding across all scheme members. The issue of how these changes might be applied in the case of the IASS is a matter for the Trustee of the scheme, which is required under trust law to act in the best interests of all scheme beneficiaries.
The principal employers have recently written to the members of the scheme, including the deferred members, informing them that an agreement has been reached with the Trustee on comprehensive pension changes. The letter outlines the various stages of the process going forward with a target date for implementation of the proposals of 31 December 2014.
A set of clear proposals is being put forward, which offers the best chance to resolve the long-standing problems of the scheme and give the members certainty about their future pension entitlements, and I would urge all parties to accept them.
