86. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of former An Post employees whose initial applications for pensions were refused in each of the past ten years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51086/25]

Sentiment score: -0.19

There are major problems with pensions at the moment. People have to fight for their pensions. Aer Lingus pensioners come to me who are still not being paid their full pensions. Pensioners come to me who say that 70,000 of them have received letters stating they may have been overpaid on their pensions. They are living in fear about that. This question relates to An Post pensioners who have been left in limbo about their pension rights. A High Court case is coming up, which seems like it is looking to deny them the income they should have as pensioners. How many pensioners are in that situation? When will it be resolved?

Sentiment score: -0.12

A pensioner came into my office recently who was one of six workers who started work on 25 July 1994. The rule, which the Minister mentioned, was that anyone who started before 6 April 1995 and worked on a continuous basis in an established position should be on class D PRSI contributions. The State made its decision. The scope section of the Department agreed with the decision. The class D contribution means people were entitled to retire at 60 and receive the full State pension. However, an appeal was made by An Post. Let us think about this. These are workers who committed their lives to the service of An Post. They paid a rate of PRSI which means they are entitled to a decent standard of pension on retirement and a semi-State company is in court fighting this decision. As a result, these pension entitlements are in limbo. The pensioners cannot find out what their entitlements are because of an outstanding court case brought by An Post. How come the Department cannot work out their entitlements? Why are they the subject of a court case? Will the Minister seek to resolve the matter as soon as possible?

Sentiment score: 0.12

I am happy to share any information I have about the constituent, but the question on the Order Paper asks how many pensioners are in a similar situation. This is not a criminal case that An Post is involved in, so I do not see why the Minister cannot give a view about the entitlement and rights of a pensioner. I know of at least 30 pensioners who are in a similar situation to this pensioner. It is my understanding that it might be the case throughout elements of the public service. Perhaps people who are employed by local authorities could be in a situation where there is confusion about what pension entitlement they have. This is a serious situation. For example, as part of the court case, papers have been requested from An Post to help the case and An Post is refusing to provide the papers, which is slowing down the case. These workers - men and women - are getting older. This is a live situation that has to be resolved. It cannot be allowed to meander and languish in the High Court for years.

Sentiment score: 0.07