Vol. 515 No. 4
27 Mrs. B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the progress of the drafting process for the pensions Bill; and if a decision has been made in relation to his responsibilities in the administration of the social welfare reserve fund. [6120/00]
31 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs when he will introduce personal retirement savings accounts; and when the report of his Department in this regard will be published. [6123/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 27 and 31 together.
I plan to publish, following approval by Government, an occupational pensions Bill during the summer which I hope will pass into law by the end of the year. This is in line with our commitment in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. One of the key features of this Bill will be the provision of a legislative framework for the introduction of personal retirement savings accounts, PRSAs, to facilitate increased savings for pensions and to provide a vehicle to extend supplementary pensions coverage overall, especially to people who have no such cover at present.
The introduction of legislation to give effect to the Government decision to set up a social welfare reserve fund and a public service reserve fund is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Finance. I strongly support the proposal to pre-fund for future pension liabilities and my Department is represented on the technical working group examining the issues relating to the introduction of the necessary legislation. The development, operation and supervision of these funds are being discussed in this forum.
