Wallace welcomes Green Paper on Pensions
Meath East TD and Minister of State, Mary Wallace has welcomed the recent launch of The Green Paper on Pensions. The Minister commented “We are living longer and are in better health than our parents and grandparents which is marvellous however, we must decide what sort of retirement we want for ourselves and our children. It is vitally important that current and future generations will have in place a pensions system that will deliver a secure and fulfilling retirement for all.”
The Green paper is a government discussion document which addresses the specific issues around pension for our ageing population. It covers Social Welfare Pensions, occupational and public sector pensions and incentives for supplementary pension saving. It also sets out some key issues related to work flexibility in older age and barriers to older people working longer. The objective of this document is to promote discussion and imput from the Pensions industry, social partners and public before a framework for a future pension system is put in place.
The Irish pensions system comprises of two main elements. There is a State-run Social Welfare system and a Voluntary Supplementary System regulated by the state. The overall objective of our Pensions system is to provide an adequate basic standard of living through direct State support and to encourage people to make supplementary pension provision so that they may have an adequate income in retirement.
Minister Wallace said “ While Ireland currently has a younger population than most European countries over the long term the impact of population ageing in this country will be considerable” According to new data in this Green paper the number of people of working age for each person age 65 and over will fall from 6 in 2006 to 2 in 2050. This demographic change will be a challenge for the sustainability of the pension system because of the increase in age-related expenditure in the decades ahead.
The government would like any interested individuals and organisations to give their views on the future development of pensions in Ireland. You can make a submission or get a copy of The Green Paper on a new website www.pensionsgreenpaper.ie