Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

I fully accept the complexity of the pensions issue but that is no excuse for prevaricating any further on it. The Government has been talking about this for several years. We cannot afford to stand back and wait much longer. Is the Minister inclined towards an insurance-based universal State pension system, given that the Government has spent over €4 billion, by present day standards, on an annual basis over recent years concentrating almost entirely on a tax relief system and that vast amounts of that €4 billion have been lost on the stock market? That system has not worked. What is the Minister's thinking on an insurance-based scheme and would she be inclined to take that route in the future?

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