Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

The unilateral decision was taken to give a unilateral guarantee to the banks which, in turn, had consequences for our capacity for further fund raising. The banks, the promissory notes and the NAMA structure have all imposed obligations on Ireland which are very difficult and onerous for taxpayers, so they limit our freedom of action in regard to other areas but I will not go into all of that now.

In regard to the amendments in respect of the pensions legislation, they are meant to provide a framework to restore the funding standard of Irish pension funds and, over a period of 11 years, after the funding standard has been restored over a three-year period, to introduce a risk reserve. We are talking about a long-term framework of reform in regard to defined benefit schemes which, hopefully, will help defined benefit schemes to come through what has been an extraordinarily difficult period. However, as I said, I will not be in a position technically to accept the amendments in the name of Sinn Féin.

I refer to finding a way to having structured investments. Work is ongoing on developing the annuity product. I am happy to say that I am confident that after this legislation is passed and assuming there is no further turmoil in the markets, we will see pension funds developing products in line with the work that is being done by the regulator and the NTMA. That would be a positive development. When we see how that goes, we may then, in the context of wider developments in the eurozone and assuming the fiscal treaty passes, be in a position to develop euro-wide products that would provide for the kind of investment everybody has referenced.