Social Affairs Minister Seamus Brennan says he is looking forward to receiving the National Pensions Review later this year. The Minister has requested the review from the Pensions Board in an effort to mobilise the public to start contributing to pensions in the numbers required.
The Minister made his comments as he published Ireland's second National Strategy Report to the EU in Adequate and Sustainable Pensions today. He said that the national strategy report sets out the country's current position on the policies and targets of the Irish pension system.
He said that Ireland, along with other European member states, is facing the challenge of ensuring that the pensions system can sustain the pressures presented by an ageing population. He says that through modernising the pension system and coming up with innovative solutions the challenges can be faced.
The Minister says he has asked the Pensions Board to examine the best ways of tapping into the savings habit created by the SSIA as one route to creating a pensions/savings scheme that would have widespread appeal.
The issue of introducing more mandatory requirements is under close scrutiny, and the Board is also exploring ways of encouraging and allowing people to work past official retirement ages if they want to do so.
The national strategy report to the EU is the second report on pensions, the first having been published in 2002. EU member states are required to assess their overall pensions strategy under common objectives agreed at EU level in the areas of adequacy of pensions, financial stability of pensions and the modernisation of pension systems in response to the changing needs of the economy, society and individuals.
The Minister said that through the exchange of ideas and best practice, all countries can benefit from the experience of their fellow member states.
