Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

In the first instance, responsibility for the terms and conditions of employment for public sector workers, including retirement and pension issues, lies with my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin. As the Deputy will be aware, the previous Government introduced a moratorium preventing the recruitment of staff in the public sector except in limited circumstances. This decision was made in the context of the agreement with the troika. Regarding the private sector and occupational pension schemes specifically, the trust deed and-or scheme rules will determine retirement dates. Any change to these provisions would be a matter for the pension scheme trustees and-or the employers.

The public sector already has extensive work sharing and family friendly arrangements for employees, as do some private sector employers, particularly the larger ones. Recent research on intergenerational solidarity by the OECD demonstrates that the rate of employment of younger people has no relationship with the rate of employment of older people. The OECD states: "The idea that public policy can re-shuffle a fixed number of jobs between workers of different ages is simply not true in anything but the very short-term."

Given the agreement with the troika and the current financial environment, it would be difficult to create a new scheme. If we are to deliver on our social contract to those in retirement, we need people to remain in work for as long as possible so that we can deliver the supports necessary on retirement. The challenges facing the pension system are significant.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

The population share of those aged 65 years and over is expected to more than double by 2050. People are living longer and healthier lives with average life expectancy set to rise even further in the future, up to 88 years for women and 83.9 years for men. In contrast, the share of the working age population is projected to decline gradually from 68% to 58%. Currently, there are six people of working age for every pensioner and this ratio is expected to decrease to less than 2:1 by mid-century. Therefore, the task of financing increasing pension spending will fall to a diminishing share of the working population. In view of this the introduction of a scheme that encouraged reduced participation in the labour market for older workers would be inconsistent with the interaction of current working age and pensions policy.

In terms of assisting those on the live register to secure employment, my Department operates a range of employment support measures designed to encourage and support social welfare recipients of working age to reduce their dependency on welfare payments. These measures are consistent with efforts being made to encourage and facilitate people to continue to work up to and beyond pension age.

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