Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

The people who called me said they never thought they would cheer the Minister but they are doing so. He may take it as a compliment or not. The Minister's initiative is a very positive one and I will be his pin-up woman for it. I will adorn his next book if he wants me to.

The Minister spoke also about SSIAs. We speak in the House from a position of privilege as we are all in State pension schemes. I do not know how long such pensions will continue because while the fund is guaranteed, the bill is growing significantly. We will all receive quite generous pensions and glad we will be of them. The SSIA scheme has strongly fulfilled the wish of former Minister for Finance, Mr. McCreevy, that it would encourage people to save. An attractive product will have to be formulated for SSIA holders because people are looking forward to the splurge. Certainly, I am. While I do not know what I will do exactly, I guarantee that I will not put my feet up. I will be busy whatever I am at.

I do not know how the Pensions Board can target young people. When one tells a young person that one hopes he or she is thinking of his or her pension, one is gawped at as if one were a heretic. They say pensions are for people like me but they are wrong. Pensions are for people who are earning a living, but they continually have to contend with the expenses of a lively life such as mortgages, cars and having children. A very attractive product will have to be formulated to encourage young people entering their first jobs after college to take out a pension. I would be inclined to adopt a compulsory approach to pensions as they are for people's ultimate good.