Caít Keane (Fine Gael)

I had signalled I wished to raise the issue of pensions. Senator Paul Coghlan just mentioned the rip-off pensions. A third of the pot of a person's pension is at risk of being totally diluted and eaten up. The figures are startling. On Monday night, RTE did a programme on pensions. People are absolutely shocked to learn that one third of their money is swallowed up in a black hole. In actual fact the Irish pensions industry could be swallowing up to €1 billion a year in fees. A research specialist in NUI Maynooth had to spend several years trying to figure out the actual fees being charged and an economist has spent a couple of years trying to set up his own pension pot without being ripped off in fees and has still not figured it out. I ask the Minister for Social Protection to investigate what the Pensions Board, a statutory body established in 1990, is doing. One of the remits of the Pensions Board is to protect the interests of pension scheme members. I ask you. Here we are in 2011, 21 years since its establishment in 1990, and it took a television programme, a specialist in Maynooth, an economist and a television presenter to tell us that a third of a person's pension is being ripped of. I have asked for the issue of pensions to be put on the agenda, in addition to ask the Pensions Board to carry out its remit and to research where the people's money is going. It is said that €1 billion a year is paid in fees, which is a total rip off. I am asking the Leader to invite the Minister to the Chamber to investigate the hidden costs and the charges applied by companies and to advise people on the best offers in pensions. At this stage we have to do it if we are concerned about society.