Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have mixed feelings about this provision because as I understand it pre-retirement access excludes self-employed sole traders and unlimited partnerships, persons who can contribute only to personal pensions or PRSAs. I have often listened to Senator Crown advocate very strongly the idea that self-employed people should be able to access their pension funds for good reason, not least because access to credit now is extremely restricted, as we know from many reports that have been published. I am, however, somewhat glad that it is not possible to do so because I cannot help feeling that under the personal insolvency legislation there would be an enormous incentive to put pressure on self-employed people in particular to access pension funds, which would have a negative impact on the security of self-employed people in old age. Would it be possible to keep this matter under review so that if it continues to be difficult for those in small businesses, particularly self-employed people, to access credit, some access to pre-retirement funds would be considered, with safeguards in the context of the Personal Insolvency Act?