THE MINISTER FOR Social Protection says that she believes that new legislation changes to defined benefit pensions will create a more certain landscape for customers.
Joan Burton told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that she hoped that the mechanism, which will see the Government bridging the gap in insolvent funds, would be used only in rare cases.
“Those with pensions up to €12,000 will be protected and there will be a sliding scale for those with pensions over €12,000.
“My aim is to create the maximum level of protection for all parties.
“In the case of a double insolvency(where both the fund and company are insolvent) , there is a European directive that says the State has to pay 50 per cent of the fund.
We’re hoping that this is such a rare event that this is an eventuality that will not occur.
“In the Budget, I secured the agreement that the Pension Levy could be used to provide this backstop.”
Burton said that efforts have been made to normalise the funding of the schemes.
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