Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

The evidence from other countries is that auto-enrolment is a very effective way of getting more workers to start providing for retirement pensions at an earlier age. There is very considerable merit in this system, but its introduction in 2014 will very much depend on the economic conditions at that stage.

Younger people are often focused on acquiring a house and other commitments, such as settling down in relationships and having children. However, time slips by for many workers who fail to become involved in pension provision and as they become older, they are seriously underprovided for. This is an issue for Irish society and the purpose of the auto-enrolment scheme is to assist that.

When the Deputy mentioned other institutions, I presume he was referring to An Post.

See this speech in context