The Minister for Social Affairs, Seamus Brennan, has asked the Pensions Board to examine giving people the option of working after 65 if they want to boost their pensions.
Launching National Pensions Week today, he said that he wanted to look at innovative ways of encouraging and allowing people to work longer if that was what they wished to do. They would then be rewarded with a bonus system when they retire.
Ireland is facing a serious challenge on its pensions. There are 900,000 workers out of a total workforce of two million who do not have private retirement packages. They will have to rely on the State when they retire.
To tackle the problem, Minister Brennan has asked the Pensions Board to look a series of measures. Among them is giving people the option of working beyond 65 in jobs where they currently have to retire.
The Minister also wants to tap into the savings habit, which he says has sprung up with the introduction of SSIAs. But he has declined to confirm whether this would result in scrapping the exit tax on SSIAs for people who put it into pensions.
He has also raised the possibility of introducing mandatory pensions, which would have to be provided by employers.
But any form of compulsory pensions is likely to be vigorously opposed by employers. In the past they have said that the additional cost would damage business.
