Unfortunately, this Department cannot consent to your request to obtain a legal opinion on this issue. As you are aware, the Government's legal advisor is the Attorney General. Because of the doctrine of the separation of powers, the Attorney General does not furnish legal advice to the other branches of Government, that is to say to the legislative (members of the Oireachtas) or judicial branches or to the President.

What do I tell people who worked all their lives and paid contributions to a private pension fund or whose employer paid a contribution on their behalf? These people will not realise until they retire that their pension is worthless. The Government compelled these people to get involved in such pensions. It did not compel employers to do so. Surely somebody in the Government – the Minister for Social and Family Affairs has responsibility in this area – can say whether it was constitutional to compel workers to pay into pension schemes. A defined contribution scheme provides no guarantee of benefit; a defined benefit scheme provides no protection against inflation for early leavers. Do these people have to seek out somebody brave enough to go to the courts to find out if they have been wronged? Will we need another like Mr. Ross who was brave enough to go to the courts last week and win his case? The only people benefiting from this is the pension industry and it receives enormous tax benefits from the Government. People involved in the pension industry will not retire to discover their pensions have been eroded by inflation. We constantly hear of them bumping up their pension schemes to ensure they have a good pension when they retire.

I hope the Minister of State will not fob me off again today. It does not look good that the Government cannot give me a direct and honest answer to this question. I hope I will get a straight answer from the Minister of State.

In the main, the Act provides for preservation of pension entitlements for members, a minimum funding standard for funded schemes, mandatory disclosure of information to members and more recently personal retirement savings accounts and the Pensions Ombudsman. My understanding is that the issue of compulsory membership of occupational pension schemes arises in the context of an employment contract. The issue being raised therefore relates to employment contract law which does not come within the scope of the Pensions Act and is therefore not a matter for the Department of Social and Family Affairs.

I cannot accede to the Senator's request that the Department of Social and Family Affairs secures and furnishes legal advice in relation to this issue. The Government's legal advisor is the Attorney General. The client of the Attorney General and his office is the executive branch of Government, that is to say the Government as a whole, its individual members and the Departments they head. Because of the doctrine of the separation of powers, it is important to note that the Attorney General does not, as a general rule, furnish legal advice to the other branches of Government, that is to say the legislative or judicial branches, or to the President nor does he furnish legal advice to members of the public.