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Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland

New legislation to protect pensioners with defined benefit schemes

Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton received approval for the Bill today, which she says leaves the State pension completely unaffected.

SOCIAL PROTECTION MINISTER Joan Burton has announced a raft of measures to tackle problems associated with defined pension benefit schemes.

Those paying into such schemes, but are still working, can be left severely out of pocket if the fund becomes bankrupt, while those in receipt of a pension will receive 100 per cent of what is owed to them.

The legislation will also cover when a fund is being restructured, or when both the employer and the fund are insolvent.

However this situation, known as “double insolvency”, will not be covered by the legislation in historic cases. An EU Insolvency Directive can instead be relied on, as seen in a European Court of Justice ruling against Ireland over the pension funds of Waterford Crystal employees.

Funds up to €12,000

Minister Burton received government approval today for measures which would protect pensioners’ funds up to €12,000, the same level as the State pension. If an insolvent scheme can not pay that amount to each person, the state will make up any shortfall using the Pension Levy fund.

Any pensions above this level will be protected at 50 per cent.

Minister Burton said that this new legislation, the Pensions [Amendment] Bill, will leave the State pension fully unaffected, and that it creates a fair situation for the taxpayer:

The State could not be expected to solve employers’ funding problems given the financial implications it would have for taxpayers.

“However, the State can intervene to ensure a fairer deal for workers and sufficient protection for pensioners while allowing employers to get to grips with their pension problems. That is the purpose of this Bill.”

The measures were welcomed this evening by business union IBEC, calling the existing system “desperately unfair”.

A dispute over a defined benefit scheme is the reason behind an upcoming ballot for industrial action at the ESB.

Union bosses said in September that changes were made to employees pension schemes “without nay agreement of consultation”.

Read: Warning over defined benefit pension schemes >

More: Union boss warns that ESB industrial action could hit power supplies >

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26 Comments
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    Mute Daffers
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    Jun 23rd 2011, 12:55 PM

    Wow. To be the 7th least failed state in the world is mindblowing… simply for the thought that most are in a worse position than us!

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    Mute Alex simon
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    Jun 23rd 2011, 1:35 PM

    We are better than canada! And the usa not bad

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    Mute Treasa Lynch
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    Jun 23rd 2011, 1:21 PM

    Am I reading that right? Only three other EU members are less failed states than Ireland is?

    God that must really irritate the crew who consider us a complete banana republic.

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    Mute Kevin O Sullivan
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    Jun 23rd 2011, 1:03 PM

    i thought everything in the nordic countries was top banna. seeings they are always held up as the ones to be like

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    Mute Claire O'Dwyer
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    Jun 23rd 2011, 1:09 PM

    That article doesn’t make a whole pile of sense..

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    Mute fizi_water
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    Jun 23rd 2011, 2:57 PM

    This ranking is not about quality of life, etc. like some comments suggest you read that. It’s about peace and military risks in particular countries.

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    Mute Ryan Murphy
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    Jun 23rd 2011, 6:11 PM

    I suppose it’s “our” fault that seven of the ten worst countries are in Africa.

    Haiti was a cesspit ever before the tragedy there, sadly, and now they’ve turned to raping one another.

    Iraq and Afghanistan are a whole other story!

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    Mute fitszpatrick
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    Jun 24th 2011, 12:10 AM

    Hail the baldy Nazis dem dam nigras don’t have a clue

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    Mute Ryan Murphy
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    Jun 24th 2011, 1:23 AM

    You’re some gowl.

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    Mute David Higgins
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    Jun 23rd 2011, 6:05 PM

    I hope we can move up near Switzerland at some stage. Tighter borders, lower-taxes, and they have their own currency!!!

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    Mute Dave Finn
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    Jun 23rd 2011, 11:10 PM

    Lower taxes? Really? Any mid Europe states i’ve lived in were thieves when it came to tax! (admittedly i’ve not lived in Switzerland, but it is one of my favourite places!)

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    Mute Shaafici Cali
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    Jun 23rd 2011, 1:40 PM

    really this is propaganda somalia is not leading top list there is bit exageration we aware of that somalia is devastated country and failure state indicating humanitarian crises and human rights abuses ,killing ,abducting, hijacking raping but there is still hope to survive this condition we are not hopeless our people still struggling to control there live style and to restore the country peace and stability so that we are not top list becouse this means no hope

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    Mute fizi_water
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    Jun 23rd 2011, 3:03 PM

    Sorry, but what is actually your point, I struggle to understand? Thanks.

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    Mute wayupnorth
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    Jun 23rd 2011, 4:11 PM

    I think the point was that “there is hope”.

    And yes, if other countries stopped interfering, there probably would be. For example:
    “The United States has quietly poured weapons and military advisers into Ethiopia, whose recent invasion of Somalia opened a new front in the Bush administration’s war on terrorism …” etc etc. 1/8/2007

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