Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to the House. She knows that this is fundamental and landmark legislation. As she stated, one third of people do not have access to a pension at the moment. The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, TILDA, has stated that the population over 65 is going to double between now and close to 2050. People in Ireland are living to an average age of approximately 82. It is crucial that we, as a Government, plan ahead and support people to live active and healthy lives, and provide access to income supports and proper pensions so people are able to manage the period of adjustment after the end of their working lives when they are spending time with their families. Having a healthy and active life is important.

This scheme is welcome. Is there a breakdown? The Minister said that one third of people who are working privately do not have access to a pension. Is there any breakdown across counties? Do we have an idea of the figures for those who pay into a pension in urban and rural areas? The larger corporate groups have good pension plans in place but many rural areas have SMEs, microbusinesses and one-man or one-woman businesses. Such companies have limited supports in place.

I am conscious that we are supporting employers, who, as the Minister mentioned, will be contributing a part, as will the State, at the beginning of the scheme. It is anticipated that the amount of the contribution will increase in the coming years.

I thank the Minister for giving us an update. We are here to support our microenterprises and SMEs. We need supports to be in place. If the over-65 population is going to double, which we all want, we must ensure these supports are in place.

I acknowledge the Minister's welcome visit to my area. She probably saw many community groups. Speaking of people who are very active, the Minister visited Roscommon and Ballinasloe. I received a phone call today from a man who told me about a lovely community park in east Galway. He is 80 years of age and his neighbour across the road is 87. He told me they were hoping for a little bit of help in respect of the park. These are the people who are active in their communities. They are the volunteers who are out there and trying to do this work. The Minister and I spoke about how we keep our volunteers active. We hope that people will retire on an adequate pension and we want them to stay active in their local communities. That is something we need. The Minister got a sense of that when she visited our area around Ballinasloe. People in their 80s call me, wanting to contribute to their local communities and to develop their areas. To me, that is Ireland.