'Serious unresolved questions' remain in Waterford Crystal pension fiasco
Minister Dara Calleary said in recent months that he has not intentions of meeting with the workers
For decades, close to 500 former workers of Waterford Crystal have been fighting for their pensions.
Their battle has traversed the highest levels of Ireland’s legal and political stages since 1992.
The pensioners have had their case raised in the High Court, the European Court of Justice and in Dáil Eireann in front of former and present Taoisigh.
In recent months, the Department of Social Protection, following advice from the Attorney General, stated that the State accept no liability over the matter.
The workers' campaign for justice continues, and following a letter penned to the Minister for Social Protection in recent weeks, the ball is now back in the Government's court.
A cohort of the workers recently penned a letter to Minister for Social Protection, Dara Calleary.
The letter sets out thirteen points on which the group require urgent answers and clarity on.
‘We believe there remain serious unresolved questions concerning statutory disclosure, regulatory failure, conflicting records, the legality of the refund process, and the protection of our vested pension rights’ the letter states.
The letters asks for clarity on the attorney general’s decision-making process in refusing state responsibility.
It also raises the issue of contradictory statements made over the years by Ministers in the Dáil, and asks that the position of using Dáil records be clarified.
The letter asks that the Department identify precisely which records it now accepts as correct and which records it no longer relies upon.
‘Where previous official records or statements have been acknowledged or alleged to be factually incorrect, how can the State continue to rely on those records in maintaining its current legal defence?’ the correspondence continues.
The letter concludes: ‘Minister, this matter has remained unresolved for far too long. We are not asking for sympathy; we are asking for clarity, accountability, and a full examination of whether the law was followed and whether our pension rights were properly protected.
‘We ask that you provide a detailed written response to each of the questions above, and that the Department confirm whether the Attorney General’s position is based on contemporaneous evidence proving that the workers were offered all of their legal options at the time of redundancy.’
More on this story is available HERE
