Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I do not have major questions on pensions, just a comment. Obviously, a substantial amount of the money in this budget goes on contributory pensions. Of the €6.5 billion or so, it is €5.5 billion. It is a return to people who have paid into the social insurance fund. They are getting back what they paid or invested over their working lives. That will obviously change at a later stage with the changes the Minister has introduced, when the higher contributions that people must have take effect.

Over the past number of years there has been a tightening up. Obviously that has not been reflected in these Estimates as there will not be a substantial change this year.

I have a specific question on the administration costs of the pension section even though I know that we will deal with administration later in the meeting. We have discussed private pension funds and the great administrative costs they impose on the people who take out private pensions. The State manages to administer a complex pension system, particularly the contributory pension, and has managed to keep the cost down to 2.9% - I refer to the overall cost to the Department. In some ways that suggests it would be more positive, or we would be better off, if we moved towards the proposal put forward by the Minister and others for a second pension or second auto-enrolment. Also, I believe that the administration of same should be retained within the Department, given its skills in administering pensions at a low cost to date.