Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Yes, but we must anticipate it as part of the architecture of the scheme. The former Minister, Mr. Charlie McCreevy, allocated part of the then economic surplus to annual transfers to the National Pensions Reserve Fund, which is one way of approaching the matter. However, if people contribute individually, they must have confidence that their contribution is being invested very long term in the economy - the National Treasury Management Agency has been doing some work in this regard - with a modest but safe rate of return. That is what we should be working towards.