I propose to take Questions Nos. 26, 51 and 84 together.
One of the key principles underpinning the National Pensions Reserve Fund Act is the fact that the fund is managed by commissioners who are independent of Government. The commissioners control and manage the fund with discretionary authority to determine and implement an investment strategy. The Act required the commission to follow a strictly commercial investment mandate with the objective of securing the optimal return over the long-term subject to prudent risk management. In following this mandate, the commission has decided on a long-term asset allocation of 80% equities and 20% bonds.
These features of the National Pensions Reserve Fund Act are similar to the trustee arrangements which exist in private pension funds. Along with the statutory prohibition on drawdowns from the fund prior to 2025, they insulate the fund from day to day pressures on government and enable the commission to take a long-term view. This is essential if the purpose for which the fund was established, to meet as much as possible of the cost to the exchequer of pension payments from the year 2025 until at least the year 2055, is to be achieved. I do not intend to propose any change to the provisions of the National Pensions Reserve Fund Act 2000 to direct the commissioners to invest fund moneys in any particular way. There is, of course, nothing to prevent the commissioners from investing in housing or other infrastructural projects in Ireland should they be satisfied that such investments are likely to yield a commercial return.