Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 7:

In page 21, before section 27, to insert the following new section:

"27.—A statute law restatement of the Pensions Acts as amended shall be published within three months of the passing of this Act.".

I have been in Seanad Éireann for only two years but I have dealt with a good deal of legislation in that time. During that time, the pensions Act was the most difficult item of legislation to navigate. It was extremely difficult to put the amendments in context because some other part of the Act had been amended previously. This is not conducive to openness and transparency. I would ask that my amendment be accepted and that we bring forward a consolidated Act which would help people when they are trying to get information on the pensions Act. If we want to encourage people to take out pensions, and people today are much more discerning and questioning about their investments, we need to make the pensions Act clearer. There should be no gaps in the Act because it was amended elsewhere. I would ask the Minister to make the Act more user-friendly in the interests of the general public. While the pensions industry produces information booklets, they often impart the industry's particular slant. This Bill should contain all the information needed in a user-friendly fashion. It is not user-friendly in its present state. I ask the Minister to urgently address this situation, which I think would be a simple matter.