Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 June 2015
183. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of meetings of the interdepartmental working and retirement group that have taken place since its inception; the recommendations the group has made and, of these, which have been accepted by the Government; and if, and where, the group's deliberations and reports are published. [21488/15]
View answerThe Interdepartmental Working and Retirement Group was established in August 2012 to consider cross departmental policy issues that may support longer working and thereby improve the sustainability and adequacy of pensions systems.
The sustainability of the pension system is a particular concern because of the demographic challenges Ireland faces, the associated increases in pension (and other age related) costs, and the deterioration in the public finances. This means that, in the future, the task of financing increased pension spending will fall to a diminishing share of the working population as demographic projections indicate the ratio of working age to older people will decrease from 5.3 to 1 at present to 2.1 to 1 by 2060. Life expectancy in Ireland is also increasing and whilst this is very welcome development, this also has obvious and significant implications in relation to the future costs of State pension provision. The fundamental principle involved here is that people need to participate in the workforce for longer and they need to contribute more towards their pensions if they are to achieve the income they expect or would like to have in retirement.
The Interdepartmental Group was chaired by the Department of Social Protection and included representatives from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Justice and Equality, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Pensions Board. Further engagement was also undertaken with the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Health and Children. The Group, which no longer convenes on a formal basis, met on four occasions and held a 'Forum on Working and Retirement' in Croke Park in December 2012. The purpose of this forum was to obtain views from representative bodies and stakeholders and identify the wide ranging issues linked to working and retirement prior to the development of any possible policy proposals. Attendees included employer and employee representative groups, older people's representative groups, representatives from the pensions industry, academic commentators and representatives from the legal profession.
The agenda for Group meetings included discussion on the wide range of issues impacting on the labour market participation of older workers; enterprise issues and employment and equality law issues. Whilst the deliberations of the group were not published in a report or single strategy, each participating Department will take the issues that emerged and the views of sectoral interests into account in their development of relevant policy proposals. In this context and as part of a broader move towards a Total Contributions approach, the Department of Social Protection is considering potential measures to support longer working, e.g., the deferral of the State pension to allow individuals build a more complete social insurance contribution record.
