Unions have continued their criticism of Ireland's current pension system, insisting they are not in favour of state support for insolvent schemes but rather seek an outcome that allows for assets to be distributed on a "fair basis".
In response to comments from Taoiseach Enda Kenny – leader of the coalition's larger Fine Gael party, who said he wished to avoid a situation whereby the taxpayer would become "the paymaster for all of these [insolvent] schemes" and was opposed to calls for "further regulatory forgiveness" – the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) argued that such an outcome was not being sought.
It said that instead the ICTU had been asking for changes to the "ineffective and inequitable" rules currently affecting the country's defined benefit (DB) funds – a reference to the unchanged priority order that sees pensions in payment secured before the benefits of actives or deferreds are addressed.
Unions and employer representatives, alongside the actuarial profession and the Irish Association of Pension Funds, agreed to joint proposals for an amended priority order last year, and the employer lobby group recently criticised the "appalling failure" of pensions policy in the country partially due to government inaction on the issue.
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