Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Senators Burke and Ardagh. There are many people, as we speak, waiting for this system to get up and running, especially the 800,000 people who do not have any private pension cover apart from the State pension. That is particularly low-paid workers and women. As I said, it is important we move on as quickly as we can. Contracts are already in place and we will be signing up to them in a very short time. The process is moving on and I cannot afford to stall it. For that reason, I do not propose that we wait any longer in implementing this legislation and the plan to have auto-enrolment up and running. It is expected we will have it in place possibly in January 2025. That is the plan. It is getting closer and I do not want to delay it.

I have asked the Pensions Council to look at it. Looking at the membership of the Pensions Council, there are many experts in that field. They told me they could not recommend that I go down that route. The Senator must appreciate that I cannot risk the members’ money. I worked in financial institutions for many years and the one thing is that you must show prudence and make sure you do not risk it. We cannot do otherwise. I always heard this adage and it always rang through at the end of the day: if you want to get a higher return, you take a higher risk. That is just a fact of life. That is my view. However, the Pensions Council clearly told to me we should proceed with the proposal as outlined, as we plan to do.