Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

I accept that. We all aspire to the €300 figure by 2012 and that this be a staging post. That is the consensus on this side of the House. We need to alleviate poverty. There is a growing differential between people in society at present. On Monday night I knocked on doors in Cork South-Central. An elderly woman opened the door in her coat, jumper, scarf and gloves because she was afraid to put on the heating. That is the reality, not an invented story. Her money is gone before it comes in.

I support Senator O'Malley's suggestion of an SSIA-type scheme for pensions. Let us have a detailed proposal on that. We need to engage people in a debate. Successive advertising campaigns have been run but we need a debate on the matter.

Senator Cannon referred to women forced to leave the workforce. This constitutes an anomaly that must be rectified. Ireland has an ageing population. How does the Government propose to provide adequate pension cover for its citizens given that the Green Paper does not give us a way forward? Perhaps the Minister could respond to that.