Choosing your Future: How to reform Ireland's Pension System

The State's promotion of individual private pension schemes and funded occupational pension schemes is at best deeply flawed and only a partial response to Ireland's pension problems.

The number of people covered by these schemes is falling. For those who are covered, employers are transferring the risk of underperforming funds to their employees. The risks for the individual are all too clear at a time when recent turmoil in financial markets means that pension funds may have been exposed to considerable losses.

In a series of closely argued expert papers, the contributors to this book expose the many negative outcomes from this ill-considered policy. They make a strong counter case for Ireland to look to its public system for answers to the pensions' dilemma. It is this system which can respond to changing demographic circumstances. Unlike the private pension system, it is already nationally established, politically accountable and enjoys public credibility and legitimacy.