Disabled Tara miners lose certain pension benefits in court ruling

TARA Mines has won a Supreme Court order allowing it exclude up to 80 disabled former miners with the company from certain substantial pension benefits made available to existing employees.

A three judge Supreme Court yesterday allowed the appeal by Boliden Tara Mines Ltd against a High Court ruling that former workers in receipt of benefits under the Income Continuance Plan of the company were also entitled to certain pension benefits sanctioned for the Tara Mines Pension Plan in 1999.

The High Court decision meant disabled workers receiving income continuance payments (the ICP group) would, in common with existing employees, not be subject to substantial deductions from their pensions.

The High Court had noted the ICP, closed to new entrants from 2002, was of particular importance because of the physical demands of mining work. An employee accepted into the ICP due to disability would receive an income benefit which, subject to periodic medical assessment, continued until the age of 65.

An ICP beneficary also remained an active member of the pension plan and the years where a person received ICP benefit were considered years of service with the company for pension purposes.

The Tara pension plan was established and operated under trust and rules declared by the company. From 1996 it was governed by a deed of amendment between the company and the Irish Pensions Trust which defined pensionable salary as a member’s annual rate of basic salary less an amount to be decided by the employer not exceeding 1.5 times the annual state Old Age Pension.

The OAP deduction provided for in the 1996 deed was known as integration. A proviso in a further deed of amendment in 1999 removed integration and this change represented a significant benefit for members, especially lower paid workers.

Giving the Supreme Court ruling yesterday, Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman said the evidence from both parties involved in the 1999 deed of amendment was to the same effect — the deed did not reflect the intention of either Tara Mines or the IPT to exclude members in receipt of ICP benefit from the entitlement to be excluded from “integration”.

There was also ample evidence the company and pension trustees behaved at all times towards pensioners on the basis the true position was as they intended it to be, he said.