Results 16,741-16,760 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: Next Thursday.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: Members had a lengthy discussion of this issue in the debate on an earlier amendment. First, the Department of Social Protection probably has the most extensive consultation process of almost any Department. It could be argued at times that things might move a lot faster, were the Department to adopt the practices of other Government agencies by having limited consultation. People from the...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: -----Deputy Ó Snodaigh will probably be receiving approximately two-thirds of the €24,000. Perhaps he might have a special case to get the minimum floor that is being established here. That is the background to that and it means we have moved in that regard. We then have the situation of people with higher pensions, but as I said in the previous discussion, the advice of the...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: I indicated my own preference. The people who do not have any type of proper pension structure are typically people in low paid jobs, women and other people who have interrupted periods of employment for different reasons. Most of them end up relying solely and exclusively on the State pension because their employment does not provide for a pension. If we were to develop a national scheme...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: As regards Deputy O'Dea's question, as I understood it, he asked if it was ultimately possible for the scheme to change solely the entitlements of deferred members before they became pensioners, and leave existing pensioners untouched.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: Yes.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: Only about 6% of schemes have been restructured to date and the majority of that restructuring has related to post-retirement increases. Very few schemes have adjusted core benefits. In some schemes, for instance, the pensions, including deferred ones, moved with how salaries moved in the company. In a lot of restructuring cases, the sacrifice that has been made is to forgo some or all of...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: I agree with much of what Deputies O'Dea and Ó Snodaigh have said. On the precise item identified by Deputy O'Dea in his amendment, namely, the annual management charge, these are charges associated with the cost of fund management. It does not take account of other charges incurred such as contribution charges, policy fees, exit penalties and other undisclosed costs. The...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: The Deputy is correct. To some extent there may be an element of intergenerational solidarity because by and large the people in the defined-contribution schemes are younger on average than people in defined-benefit schemes because many defined-benefit schemes have been closed to new entrants for a significant period of time. The only other example, I suppose, is the public service, which,...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: I am a great fan of the campaign for plain English or indeed plain Irish. I am afraid, as the Deputy has mentioned, sometimes it is not only like looking into a bush, but like looking into a thicket, trying to make out the meaning of a pension statement. The Deputy is correct in pointing out that the people in the pensions industry earn very handsome rewards for the work they do. The...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: I have very little to add. The existing Pensions Board is working on a number of communications regarding information on pensions, some of which I expect to launch in February. When the pensions council is established it will be given the specific remit of consumer interests. As both Deputies have said, the paramount issue is communication with consumers in a language they can understand....

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: We had a brief discussion on this issue this morning. Revenue from the 0.15% levy which will apply in 2013 and 2014 as referenced in the budget will be used to fund the jobs initiative, including the reduced 9% VAT rate for the hospitality sector, and to provide for potential State liabilities which may emerge from pre-existing or future pension fund difficulties. That is what was said by...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: As I said to Deputy O'Dea before the break, I would envisage that reviewing the figures would mean going back to Government. I am certainly happy to undertake that. Any time a significant issues related to pensions arises, which is an important issue in society and the wider economy, I would normally bring it to Government. I can certainly undertake to do so. There are two social welfare...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: The Deputy has asked that we update the guidance. We are doing that. As I said earlier, it should take effect some time in the first part of the new year. Much of the work is underway at present.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: We do not index link the State retirement pension but what we do is an annual review via the budgetary mechanism. What I would have to do in this case is go back to Government if a situation such as that described by Deputy O’Dea arose. Currently, the median pension is €11,000 and the floor of €12,000 is above that. I will undertake to go back to Government if that...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: Deputy O'Dea took it from the top in addressing the industrial relations machinery of the State. This is pensions legislation and my remit is limited to that. I have heard what Deputies O'Dea and Daly have said in that pensions are a key part of industrial relations issues for companies and workers. From a pensions legislation perspective, I can send a copy of my note to people. There are...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: For the first time.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: I thank the Deputies for their contributions. The Bill seeks to provide a floor of €12,000 for existing pensioners. If the pension fund is on its way, with the assistance of the Pensions Board, to sorting out its problems, existing pensioners, active and deferred members will not be affected once we get the scheme back towards solvency. That is an important point to make. The...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: Yes; that is a risk.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Joan Burton: In my view, the introduction of a supplementary national pension scheme would solve many of the problems we are discussing. I hope we will be able to afford that, from an economic perspective, in the not too distant future. I envisage that employers, employees and the State, perhaps via taxation, would contribute to such a scheme. Such a scheme has been built up over a period of time in...