Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 8 February 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection

General Scheme of the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill: Discussion (Resumed)

Ms Jacqueline Thornton:

Yes. We split it into bonds, equities, property funds, etc., so we will have a split. Our most recent one is 2020 and we should be able to get that to the Deputy fairly quickly.

He made the interesting point that a lot of households make the decision that the pension is a household pension and what is mine is yours and what is yours is mine. That is great and all well and good until perhaps further down the line and things break down. In a divorce situation, what happens to the pension? They might say, "What is mine is yours and yours is mine", but it is in one person's name. It is incredibly important to bear that in mind in cases of divorce because, frequently, the pension can be the second largest financial asset after the family home. More frequently, the family home is the topic of discussion. We must remember that there is functionality there for the remaining spouse, the spouse who stayed at home, for example, and forewent the contributions to their pension. There is a mechanism there to ensure the main pension is split legally under a pension adjustment order. That is very important, particularly for the gender pension gap and for women in retirement who perhaps did not get the opportunity to put as many pension contributions in during the accumulation period. They have that open to them as well.