The European Commission has launched an investigation into how a EUR 100 million hole was left in the pension fund of troubled Waterford Crystal.
Hundreds of workers at the company remain at risk of …
The European Commission has launched an investigation into how a EUR 100 million hole was left in the pension fund of troubled Waterford Crystal. Hundreds of workers at the company remain at risk of losing their full entitlements after the firm went into receivership. The Irish government has already ruled out the possibility of a bailout of troubled pension funds. However, it has emerged that the European Commission has requested information from the government on the measures it adopted to protect the pension entitlements, particularly the defined benefit schemes of workers at the stricken company. It has warned it “will not hesitate to initiate infringement proceedings” against the government if it has been shown the state failed to take sufficient action to protect pension entitlements. “We are requesting more information from the Irish Government”, a spokesman for the commission said. “We have to see exactly how the Irish Government protections for the workers fits into the European Insolvency Directive”. The Department of Social and Family Affairs confirmed it had received a letter from the commission this week querying issues relating to defined benefit security. The trade union representing workers at Waterford Crystal said the government has a case to answer. Unite“s national secretary Jerry Shanahan said: “If you work for Waterford Wedgwood in the UK you would receive 90% of your pension entitlement, up to GBP 30,000 a year”. Under UK law, workers in the British branch of Waterford Wedgwood would be covered by a pension protection fund. However, there is no similar pension insurance scheme in place in Ireland.