Séamus Hughes
Question:202 Mr. Hughes asked the Minister for Social Welfare the proposals, if any, he intends to implement to encourage a national debate and initiative on the ESRI study on private pension provisions. [20416/96]
Written Answers. - Private Pensions Study.
Séamus Hughes
Question:203 Mr. Hughes asked the Minister for Social Welfare his views on the findings of the ESRI study on the provision of private pensions for which only one in two workers have made provisions. [20417/96]
Séamus Hughes
Question:205 Mr. Hughes asked the Minister for Social Welfare arising from the findings of the ESRI study on private pension provisions that a pension poverty trap will arise in view of the fact that the elderly population is projected to increase by over 29 per cent between 1991 and 2011, and as the percentage of non-contributory pension is currently 40 per cent of the average industrial wage as against 51 per cent in the 1980s, whether he anticipates that the State provision to the year 2011 will further reduce as a percentage of the average industrial wage as the elderly population increases. [20419/96]
It is proposed to take Questions Nos. 202, 203 and 205 together.
In 1993 the National Pensions Board in its final report, Developing the National Pensions System, set out the aim that there should be a national pension system which would provide pension benefits which would maintain a reasonable relationship with previous income levels, so that established standards of living could be maintained. One of the recommendations of the National Pensions Board report was that a survey of occupational pension schemes should be carried out to establish their coverage and adequacy. The last major survey related to 1985 and it was essential that up-to-date information should be available which would be of considerable assistance when proposals in relation to pensions were being formulated.
Accordingly my Department and the National Pensions Board jointly commissioned a report from the Economic and Social Research Institute. This report, entitled Occupational and Personal Pension Coverage 1995, was presented to me last week. The report shows that pension coverage is roughly the same now as it was over ten years ago. This is despite the fact that, in the meantime, pensions have assumed a higher profile and in a situation where the issues associated with the ageing population have been highlighted as never before.
Having considered carefully the findings of the report, my Department in conjunction with the National Pensions Board are sponsoring a national pensions policy initiative. The purpose of this will be to facilitate a national debate on how to work towards a national pension system consistent with the aim of providing pension benefits which maintain a reasonable relationship with previous income levels so that established standards of living can be maintained.
This initiative will be a two stage process. Stage one will involve the production of a consultation document which will form the basis for general discussion among all interested parties, the social partners and the general public. This document will set out the information and data currently available on pensions coverage in Ireland and the key issues that now need to be addressed. These issues will include coverage, the delivery of this coverage, its efficiency and fiscal and economic implications. The document will also describe the alternative models of pension provision that exist in other relevant countries. This consultation document will be available early next January. Responses to it will then be invited with a deadline for receipt of these likely to be the end of March 1997.
Stage two of the initiative will then involve processing and analysis of the responses to the consultation document; reviewing critically selected pension models from other countries, relating these to Ireland and developing options in the Irish context; and preparation of a report including the formulation of recommendations on the actions that need to be taken to achieve a national pension system in line with the aim of the National Pensions Board as articulated in its final report. The target date for the completion of this stage is next summer.
This is an important time for pensions policy. We need to look comprehensively and very carefully, over a relatively short timeframe, at the present position. We then need to make decisions and, most importantly, to carry those decisions through so that we face up to and deal with the medium and long-term issues so as to ensure that the living standards of future generations of pensioners are safeguarded. This national pensions policy initiative is the first step to achieving this.
The concerns raised by the Deputy in relation to the adequacy of pensions and their future provision will be considered in the national pensions policy initiative.