Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I echo the Chair's comments. I do not think Mr. Duggan should be apologising at all for the length of the submission. The Department has been very good to come before the committee not once, but twice. Mr. Duggan has dealt comprehensively with what I would have come to the meeting to ask the witnesses about. It has been a really useful summary. The issue around the central processing authority, CPA, is an interesting one. It is one where I think differing ideologies reveal themselves. I do not use the word "ideology" as a dirty word, as some people seem to. I do not know why you would turn up in a legislative body unless you were guided by an ideology of some sort. I am quite comfortable with the idea of the CPA being a significant State actor looking after people who need looking after and who are not proactive in their decision-making. What I did find interesting was that idea that perhaps Revenue could play a role more efficiently. Mr. Duggan dealt with that in the last part of the submission. It might be useful for us, as a committee, to have that outlined in more detail. One of the things that jumped out at me was the question of whether it was a good suggestion to leave Revenue to take on part of it. I am quite comfortable with the CPA's standing as an investment intermediary. I think it is a good idea. One thing that nobody really spoke to us about, and I would have raised initially, is that environmental, social and governance, ESG, consideration, how we design the default and whether we want to reflect values within the default. Perhaps that is a discussion for another day.

On income and age limits, again, I am quite comfortable with where the age limits and income levels are set. My only concern is whether we should be setting those limits in primary legislation or whether that should be dealt with after the fact because situations change. For example, we have had runaway inflation this year in a way that has not occurred in a number of decades. That might change income thresholds. Do we tie the hands of the CPA and the Oireachtas by putting the thresholds into primary legislation? I am comfortable with the contribution levels, which were dealt with in the submission. I do not want to put words in the Chair's mouth,-----