Former employees of Waterford Crystal have voted unanimously to accept a government settlement over their long-running pension dispute.

The Cabinet signed off on the €178m settlement on Tuesday.

The payout is expected to work out at an average of around €40,000 per worker.

The Waterford Crystal factory closed in 2009 leaving more than 1,700 people without their pension entitlements.

It comes after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) found that the state had to step in to pay their pensions after their private scheme went bust.

Under the plan, workers with pensions between €12,000 and €24,000 will get 90% of €12,000 - plus 67% of benefits of between €12,001 and €24,000.

The Tánaiste Joan Burton outlined the figures earlier this week:

Last year, Unite took a landmark case on the issue to the ECJ and won.

The 10 workers took the case against the state to the court in Luxembourg for its failure to establish a pension protection system.

In a ruling, the ECJ said that Ireland has not fulfilled its obligations under an EU directive, designed to protect the pensions of workers in the event of the insolvency of their employer.

Jimmy Kelly of Unite trade union worked in the factory from the age of 16. He told told Beat 102-103 that former workers are happy with the settlement.