John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Nicholson for his comprehensive presentation. The public in general seems to be oblivious to all of this. The consultation period is open until 4 November. What kind of uptake has there been for that process? How many submissions have been made to date? I do not think the public is aware of this. Will it be a seismic shift in policy in terms of pension provision and will it pose challenges for some sectors in society?

On the earnings ceiling that is set in the straw man proposal of €20,000, the third graph goes through the different employment types, including accommodation and food services, administration or support services and the retail trade. They are the three areas in which there is primarily low pay, precarious employment and zero-hour contracts. It is self-evident as to why there is such a low uptake there. A lot of roles in those areas will fit into the category of €20,000. There are concerns around that bar at which people will be auto-enrolled. We should be trying to work towards a living wage and I would be critical of the increase in the minimum wage announced in the budget. It will not move people anywhere near where they need to be in terms of having a real living wage. Sin scéal eile; that is another debate. How fixed is the €20,000 bar in the straw man proposal? I have some concerns around it.

On the employer's and the State's contributions, Mr. Nicholson said that would at least be the case initially. I am not sure what he meant by that. Will it cease to be the case at some point? Will it be looked at after ten or 15 years and could the State stop its contribution? Mr. Nicholson might elaborate on that.

It is very difficult for people to invest in something that may be 35 or 40 years away without seeing what is in the pot for them on an annual basis and knowing what the provision ultimately will be. Some service providers operate app systems allowing people to log in at any stage. This is more the nuts and bolts as opposed to broader policy provision. I am not sure whether something like an app could be considered so that people could see in real time what would be in it for them.

The self-employed and the big challenges in that area were mentioned. A figure was given of 260,000 self-employed people who do not have private pension provision. That absolutely poses challenges. We had a conversation before the witnesses came in about bogus self-employment. Key to the challenge here is addressing the huge level of bogus self-employment that exists. If that is not tackled we will again see employers getting away with not making pension provisions for their employees when auto-enrolment rolls out.

On the seventh or eighth month, people can decide to opt out. Different figures have been bandied about since the consultation opened in August as to how much it would actually cost someone to do so. Will a maintenance charge be imposed on people up to that point? Going back to the straw man proposal, if someone on an income of €20,000 who is automatically enrolled decides - reasonably - that he or she is struggling to put bread on the table as it is, cannot afford this and decides to opt out, how much will it cost to do so after the seventh or eight month? Three years later if that person is automatically enrolled again and simply cannot afford it - he or she is not looking 30 or 40 years down the road - in real terms, how much will it cost to opt out?

The biggest question in my mind is who will manage this overall. Will it be the private sector or the State? My fear is that the private sector is already rubbing its hands at the thought of this even though the Department is saying nothing and that it will be only about 0.5% because of the scale. With four different providers we are talking about probably 100,000 in each of those providers. The critical question is who will manage this overall.