Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 5, line 23, to delete "ACT 2001;" and substitute the following:

"ACT 2001, THE PENSIONS ACT 1990, AND THE TAXES CONSOLIDATION ACT 1997;".

The amendment to the Pensions Act 1990 that I am introducing arises from proposals from the Irish Association of Pension Funds and the Society of Actuaries in Ireland, under which a new type of annuity policy, which will make reference to euro-nominated bonds, will be available for purchase by Irish pension schemes and investors. In purchasing this new type of annuity and-or associated bonds, pension schemes will benefit from higher yields than are currently available from French and German markets, thereby reducing the cost to pension schemes in meeting their pension liabilities and the requirement of the funding standard. In an Irish context, the National Treasury Management Agency will issue long-term bonds with a period appropriate to match the funding needs of a typical pension scheme. These bonds will be available for purchase when the insurance industry issues annuities based on Irish yields. These annuities can be bought by pension schemes to match their pensioner liabilities. It is proposed to make these bonds available from 1 January 2011. They can, of course, be purchased in the normal course by pension schemes.

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