The object of the Bill is described in the Long Title as "an Act to enable Bord na Móna to pay more than half the contributions to the fund of any superannuation scheme established under section 6 of the Turf Development Act, 1953." An examination of the pensions payable under the Bord na Móna Superannuation Scheme of 1963, which was debated at length in Dáil Éireann on 28th March, 1963, clearly reveals that it is not possible for manual workers in Bord na Móna, especially non-craftsmen, to obtain a reasonable pension so long as they are obliged to pay 50 per cent of the cost of benefits. This is so because many of the workers concerned were employed by Bord na Móna before the 1963 superannuation scheme came into operation. In effect, contributions have to be paid in respect of years of service before the commencement of the schemes of 1963 and 1970. In all fairness, the cost of "prior service" should be borne by Bord na Móna but this is not possible under the 50-50 rule in the Turf Development Act of 1953. Moreover, provision was made in the 1963 superannuation scheme to enable Bord na Móna workers on promotion to be admitted to the "staff" scheme of 1956. This required a transfer contribution to be made to the staff scheme with a consequential drain on the superannuation fund. This situation cannot be remedied unless Bord na Móna are entitled to pay the difference between the appropriate transfer contributions. By and large, there is one-way traffic on transfers.
When the superannuation scheme of 1963 was debated in Dáil Éireann on 28th March, 1963, it was emphasised that the scheme did not make provision for reasonable or adequate benefits and when the scheme was reviewed by the trade unions in 1968, it became abundantly clear that a reasonable scale of benefits could not be provided unless Bord na Móna paid, and was permitted to pay, more than half the cost of the scheme. Details of pension payments in Bord na Móna were given in a reply to a Parliamentary Question on 18th December, 1969.
On 22nd September, 1969, Bord na Móna offered proposals for increased pensions to the trade unions and a cross section of the pensions in payment and payable were furnished in a parliamentary reply on 18th December of that year. While it is quite clear that the new pensions are somewhat higher than the former pensions, which the Minister's predecessor assured the Dáil were adequate, nevertheless, the gratuity pension scale, after 40 years service, is very low.
There are grounds for believing that outline pension proposals—with provision for the new gratuity—were sent to Bord na Móna by the Department of Transport and Power in 1969. One wonders if it is a coincidence that the benefits in the new Bord na Móna scheme—with one exception—are almost identical to the proposals for a non-contributory pension scheme for forestry workers and other State employees, offered to the trade unions by the Department of Finance on the 25th November, 1969. Details of the State non-contributory scheme were given in reply to a Dáil Question on 28th April, 1970.
The latest Bord na Móna contributory scheme and the State employees non-contributory scheme have an almost identical range of benefits and it is unfair that Bord na Móna workers should be obliged to pay £1 a week and more for superannuation benefits which have been agreed for State employees free. The maximum gratuity under the Bord na Móna scheme is a year's pay after 30 years as compared with a year's pay at 30 years rising to one and half year's pay in the State scheme.
Just in case anyone suggests that Bord na Móna workers are not paying very much may I point out that a man earning under £13 10s will pay 56p per week, a man earning £22 15s will pay 96p, which is almost £1 a week, and a man earning £43 a week will pay £1 17s 6d or £1.80. I cannot see why Bord na Móna workers should be singled out and dealt with in this way just because the State scheme, which is not a good one by any means, allows a pension or a gratuity which is much higher than that being offered by Bord na Móna and as far as the workers are concerned there is no question of their paying for it. We are asking here that Bord na Móna be allowed to increase their share of what has to be paid so that the pension and the gratuity can be increased without having to increase the amount to be paid by the workers out of their wages. It is as simple as that. I recommend that the Bill be accepted by the House.
