Social Affairs Minister Seamus Brennan has asked the Pensions Board to bring forward its statutory review of the pensions strategy.
The review was to be completed by September 2006, but Minister Brennan said he had asked the Pensions Board to complete the review and to submit a report to him by the middle of the year.
In an address to the Irish Association of Pension Funds, Mr Brennan said that despite all the incentives, the overall coverage figures for pensions are disappointing. He added that the coverage situation is unlikely to improve dramatically over the next year.
The Minister said that one innovative route that may encourage more people to take out pensions involves SSIAs. He said that he has asked the Pensions Board to examine ways of 'tapping into the valuable savings habit the SSIAs have solidly established'.
He said he invited the Pensions Board and the pensions industry, employers and trade unions to come forward with proposals for new products.
'If we are to achieve the level of cover that will guarantee most of our aging population at the least a reasonably prosperous retirement that we must all work together to build confidence in pensions,' Minister Brennan said.
