‘Poorer’ Ross blasts INM over planned cuts to pensions

Transport Minister Shane Ross has said he is “not very happy” at the prospect of being “a lot poorer” due to losing a large part of his pension from Independent News and Media (INM).

He blasted the proposed cuts to the pensions of existing and former staff as “unfair” and “unreasonable”.

The country’s largest media group has found itself at the centre of a major controversy over its decision to cease payments into its defined benefit pension scheme.

The move will result in significant reductions in the pensions to existing and former staff members. Staff say they will suffer a cut of more than 70% to their pension benefits as a result of this decision and a previous restructuring of the scheme in 2013.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Mr Ross said that as a former business editor of the Sunday Independent, he is entitled to a pension but that he, like many others, will lose money.

“I am conflicted as I am a former staff member who is entitled to a pension. I haven’t drawn it but I am entitled to one and will be drawing from it,” he said.

“I have personal views on it but I am not very happy. I have not looked into the details. Personally, I am going to be a lot poorer for it. But I feel for those people who have given their lives to the Independent to find themselves cut by 40% is unfair and unreasonable.”

INM, in the wake of sustained criticism within and beyond Leinster House, said it could possibly amend its proposal to inflict severe cuts on staff pensions.

At an extraordinary general meeting of the company before Christmas, leading former members of staff, including some high-profile journalists, severely criticised the board.

Retired INM journalist Martin Fitzpatrick described management’s decision to close the defined benefit scheme as “one of the most shameful decisions” he had come across in his 50 years as a business journalist.

He said it was a despicable first and should not be allowed to happen. He said senior management he had dealt with in the past had a sympathetic understanding of pensions issues. He accused the board of being “blinded” by their requirement to resume dividend payments.

At the meeting, INM chairman Leslie Buckley said he and the board “understood the concerns” about the pension scheme.

Irish secretary of the NUJ, Seamus Dooley, said INM had entered into an agreement to restructure the pension in 2013 and has now broken that agreement.