‘Dáil record needs to be corrected’ - former Waterford Crystal workers
Last week, Minister Mary Butler said that a parliamentary answer she received on the matter in 2017 from then Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty was incorrect.
This is the message from former workers of Waterford Crystal, who say that government Ministers have provided them with incorrect information regarding their pensions.
The situation stretches back to the early nineties, when over 400 Waterford Crystal employees were left without a pension.
The workers claim that they were offered only one pension option at the time – the return of their pension contributions.
They were entitled to receive three options contained on an option form.
The workers assert that none of the more than 400 employees were ever offered these forms, and that no evidence of the form’s existence has ever been proven.
Last week, Minister Mary Butler said that a parliamentary answer she received on the matter in 2017 from then Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty was incorrect.
“Regina Doherty, who was the Minister at the time, said the workers were offered their options, and they weren’t,” Minister Butler said.
Former Waterford Crystal worker Walter Croke welcomed Minister Butler’s comments.
This is not the first time, however, that an incorrect statement has been provided by government officials, Mr Croke said.
Former Minister Paudie Coffey, former Minister John Halligan and former Senator David Cullinane (now TD) have all presented parliamentary questions on behalf of the workers in the past decade.
The answers they received are all inaccurate and also need to be corrected, Mr Croke said.
"We feel the official Dáil record should be corrected to reflect the fact that none of the Ministers have ever seen signed option forms and they have never been able to produce them."
Meanwhile, a recently circulated letter from the Department of Social Protection stated that the Attorney General has advised the government that there was no basis on which the State could be obliged to compensate the former workers.
Mr Croke told us this week that he believes the attorney general needs to revisit this decision.
He added that the workers hope to have a meeting with Minister Mary Butler and Minister John Cummins with a view to finding a solution.
