Liquidator Kieran Wallace has made a claim against the State for it to pay a record €6 million into an insolvent defined-benefit pension scheme. Photograph: Brenda FitzsimonsThe liquidator of a Dublin chemicals company claims the State is bound by legislation to pay a record €6 million into its into its insolvent defined-benefit pension scheme.
Mr Wallace, in his capacity as the liquidator of Protim Abrasives Ltd, is appealing that decision in a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission under the Protection of Employees Act 1984, as amended, against the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Protim Abrasives went into liquidation on November 12th 2009 after a rescue bid fell through “primarily” because of the scale of the pension liability, Mr Wallace told the tribunal – with the liquidation still live because of the pension fund dispute.
The State maintains the request is out of time because it was made after the date the company went into liquidation. The liquidation of the firm yielded a dividend of €875,000 for the pension scheme, he said, leaving a gap of €6.1 million, the tribunal heard.