Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The witnesses are very welcome to Ireland and I hope they enjoy their stay here. I share the views expressed by the Chairman. We are from different political parties but we come together as one committee. There are challenges in the pensions system in Ireland, which was established in 1961. The Chairman has outlined those challenges, which have come to a head recently. The Government is committed to trying to change that. We might not be able to do it overnight but it is important that we make some efforts to do so. As the Chairman has pointed out, the social welfare Bill will come before this committee and we will scrutinise changes put forward in terms of the pensions issue.

The remit of the committee has changed recently in that we now have a labour element to it. The name of the Department changed and it is a new Department. At the second last meeting, officials from the labour side came before the committee. It works well and I note it is the same approach as is taken in Romania. It is a proper fit. I note Romania's unemployment rate is 4.75%. We are at approximately 6% now. I am interested to hear how Romania deals with social welfare. What weekly payments are made? Does Romania have labour activation measures in place to get people back into the workforce? The witnesses are very welcome and I look forward to the engagement.