Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 38: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the steps she will take to facilitate women, who were forced out of employment due to the marriage rule, to avail of contributory pensions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25334/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Government is anxious to ensure that as many people as possible can be accommodated within the social welfare pensions system, with due regard being paid to the contributory principle underlying entitlement to contributory payments and, in the case of non-contributory payments, the need to ensure that resources are directed to those who are most in need. Over the past ten years, means tests have been improved and qualifying conditions for contributory payments made easier.

Many women in both the private and the public sectors left employment upon marriage because they were required to or because that was the societal norm at the time. Public servants who left the workforce through the operation of the marriage bar were not insured for social welfare pension purposes. Accordingly, the loss of pension rights in their case relates more to their occupational position rather than social welfare pension entitlements.

That said, the Green Paper on Pensions considered a number of issues related to the qualifying conditions for a social welfare contributory pension including the pension position of women who had to resign due to the marriage bar. The Government is actively considering these issues and will make final decisions in the context of the long-term framework on pensions which I expect will be published in the near future.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 39: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs when she will publish a white paper on pensions policy. [23278/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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In recent months, the Government has taken several initiatives to tackle the severe difficulties being faced by members of pension schemes, particularly defined benefit schemes. These were immediate difficulties that required a quick response to help protect members' benefits. The Government introduced legislation to create a pensions insolvency payment scheme whereby members of schemes in wind-up whose employer is insolvent may receive a higher proportion of their benefits. Defined benefit scheme wind-up priorities were reordered so that, in any defined benefit wind-up situation, employees and former employees who have not yet retired may receive a large proportion of their benefits. The Government also introduced provisions to allow for more flexible restructuring of pension benefits and stronger regulation regarding remittance of contributions. During this time, the Government has also been engaged in discussions with the social partners, including a strong emphasis on the pensions issue.

I am aware that the pensions issue goes beyond these real and immediate difficulties and that a comprehensive framework is required to deal with all of the challenges facing our pension system over the medium to long term. It is the intention of Government to do so. The Green Paper on Pensions was published in October 2007, the consultation process concluded last year, and the Government has been working to produce a national pensions framework since then.

Where quick responses to difficult pension issues have been required, the Government has done so and legislation has been passed. Producing a national pensions framework, however, requires a considered response that puts comprehensive policies in place that will last for generations. We have a window of opportunity relative to many other countries to address the complex challenges facing our pension system. Our ultimate objective is a pension system which will deliver an adequate retirement income for all which is, at the same time, affordable and sustainable for the State and those who sponsor and provide pension schemes.

In recent weeks, we have seen reports that pension funds are beginning to show positive returns again. While this is to be welcomed, the Government will continue to discuss further long-term reform options for inclusion in the national pensions framework which will be published in the near future.