Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

I have said many times that these are major inter-generational questions and I do not believe there is any quick fix for them. We are trying to begin a process that will allow for decisions to be made as quickly as possible. I have not delayed on this and I brought forward the national pensions review by a year. The review produced a raft of proposals within a few months, many of which are being considered by the Government. It made proposals about SSIAs, PRSAs and the retirement age. Some of these proposals have significant tax implications and some have almost philosophical implications. For instance, there is a view that the State has no business enforcing mandatory pensions on anyone while the counter view is that a just society should provide mandatory pensions. The Government decided to publish that report. I will shortly call the national forum to hear international views from speakers from around the world and then try to pull the debate together with concrete proposals in the course of this year.

I do not wish to give the impression that there is a quick fix solution. Half the population does not have pensions. The question is how far any Government should go in insisting that pensions are provided. Tax reliefs of more than €2.7 billion are currently available. The budget proposed a scheme for people to take their money out of SSIA accounts and invest it in pension funds on a once-off basis. The pensions issue is on the national agenda in a way it has not been for many generations. This is a good chance to bring it to fruition which is what I hope to do this year.

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