Rónán Mullen (Independent)

Solidarity between generations is what this debate is all about and it is essential for our well-being as a society. Eamon de Valera, who received some less than flattering comment in the last few minutes, had a vision of Ireland where he spoke of our firesides being forums for the wisdom of old age. That vision has not just been undermined by the disappearance of firesides but also by the disappearance of that interaction between children, young people and older people. That is a sad downside of modern living.

We must have a visionary approach to the future in regard to the pensions debate. We have had much discussion about it. It seems the Green Paper does no more than restate discussions that have been taking place since the national pension policy initiative in 1996. It is time for action and proposals and for politicians to start taking decisions. It is easy to pursue the discussion when one is afraid of taking decisions at which people might baulk. However, the fact is, as Senator Quinn said, we need to examine mandatory provision of pensions. We need to examine employers making a generous contribution to that. We also need to give leeway to young people to give them a few years in the workforce before such mandatory pension provision would kick in.