O'Connor: Govt 'plundering' pension fund

One of the country's leading trade unionists has accused the Government of plundering the National Pension Reserve Fund to appease zombie banks.

The charge comes from SIPTU and Congress President Jack O'Connor, who has been speaking at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in Dublin this afternoon.

The party has been highly critical of Government economic policy, dubbing them a "coalition of the confused and the clueless".

Mr O'Connor told the gathering he believes the Government's policies are all wrong.

"While the Pension Reserve Fund built up by the citizens of this jurisdiction during the boom years is plundered to appease the insatiable appetites of the zombie banks, our Government is pursuing a deliberate policy of cutting pay and allowing unemployment to soar upward in order to drive down wages," Mr O'Connor said.