Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 January 2023
11. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the outcome of the public consultation process on retired workers' access to industrial relations mechanisms for pension-related issues; the response of the Government to these proposals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63202/22]
View answerAt the Second Stage debate on the 2021 Private Members Bill on Industrial Relations (Provisions in Respect of Pension Entitlements of Retired Workers), the Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English TD, clearly outlined this Department's difficulties and concerns in relation to the proposed Bill as it was then drafted, and why it could not be supported by the Government.
If a person is in receipt of an occupational pension, their relationship is with the trustees of the pension fund. They no longer have an employment relationship with their former employer. As the Deputy will be aware, trustees have statutory and fiduciary duties to act in the best interests of all members of a fund.
It is the responsibility of the Office of the Pensions Ombudsman to act an independent and impartial means of resolving complaints alleging financial loss occasioned by an act of maladministration and disputes of fact or law in relation to occupational pensions schemes and Personal Retirement Savings Accounts.
It has already been recognised that there is legitimacy, in time limited circumstances, for retired persons to seek redress from the industrial relations bodies for matters arising pre-retirement. In 2015, the 1990 Industrial Relations Acts were amended with the insertion of section 26A which allows for a retired person to access to Industrial Relations bodies in a period of 6-month post-retirement.
It is important to note that access to the industrial relations machinery of the State, including access to the Workplace Relations Commission, is governed by Section 23 of the Industrial Relations Act 1990. This legislation provides that a “worker” means any person aged 15 years or over who has entered or works under a contract with an employer. A person in receipt of an occupational pension is not a worker and therefore cannot have a complaint dealt with by the Workplace Relations Commission.
To ensure that the views of all stakeholders were considered in relation to this issue, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment ran a consultation process in March 2022, the purpose of which was to seek views on the introduction of a statutory right for retired persons to be included in collective trade disputes.
In the 12 submissions received, while it was clear that there was a small cohort of people who would benefit from the proposal, there were a number of submissions which did not support the measures. All submissions received have been published on the Department’s website.
