Almost 1,200 Waterford Crystal workers appear to be on the verge of finally receiving €250m worth of pension entitlements for which they have been fighting for the last five years.

The Waterford Crystal pensions dispute is being referred to the LRC.

Almost a year after the European Court of Justice ruled in their favour and five years after they lost their jobs, former workers at Waterford Crystal have still not received tens of thousands of euro in pension entitlements to which the court said they were entitled.

Ireland’s levy on pensions may last indefinitely in the light of the Government decision to change the operation of employees’ defined benefit schemes.

The European Court of Justice will tomorrow issue a decision which could secure €2.6m in pension entitlements for 10 former Waterford Crystal workers — and many millions more for thousands of other Irish workers.