July 2018

30Jul

Ireland. The State pension wasn’t designed to support the lifestyles people have in mind

“PENSIONS” – A TOPIC that can often be met with a glazed eye by the young professional, or with a flutter of panic by the 40-something employee. I’m unsure why planning for sustainability and longevity regarding our finances is something that so many people close themselves off to, but there’s a common assumption that pensions and planning for retirement is something that can be put off, and off… until, well, some other time. The CSO Quarterly National Household Survey 2015 reported...

July 30, 2018
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February 2018

28Feb

Ireland. From 2022, workers will be ‘auto enrolled’ on pension savings schemes

On a very snowy day for many parts of the country, the government has announced major changes to the pensions system in Ireland, with an automatic enrollment system one of its key features. From 2020, a new State pension system will come into place based on a “total contributions approach” where a person’s lifetime contribution will more closely match the benefit they receive. In the future, the government will aim to keep the state pension at a level of 34% of...

February 28, 2018
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January 2018

02Jan

Charity warns Ireland’s ageing population will ’impact every part of Irish life’

The number of older people in Ireland will go from half a million to a million and a half over the next five years. Charity for older people ’ALONE’, is warning that this will increase pressure on services like healthcare, transport and housing. CEO of ALONE, Sean Moynihan says they plan to dramatically increase their staff to help support our ageing population. He said: "It’ a big task and I think we’re an ageing population. "People need to realise this is going...

January 2, 2018
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December 2017

30Dec

An Inquiry Into the Legality of Pensions on the Irish Establishment

By Alexander M'Aulay Excerpt from An Inquiry Into the Legality of Pensions on the Irish Establishment Thus, it moft evidently appears, that not only the Iri/b temporary Duties, but alfo the 17% (bit Rents and crown-rents and the Irifl) Hereditary Duties whieh are granted by Act of parliament, are all, the public, unalienable Revenue of the Crown, limited to public Ufes. (more…)

December 30, 2017
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20Dec

Ireland. Public service pension liability now stands at €114.5bn

The State’s bill for its 298,000 serving public servants, and a further 155,000 who have already retired, now stands at €114.5 billion. The figure, contained in the Department of Public Expenditure’s latest actuarial review of its pension liability in respect of public service workers, represents the value at the end of 2015 of all expected future payments to current and former staff. The figure has jumped 17 per cent from €98 billion in just three years since the last actuarial study...

December 20, 2017
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November 2017

24Nov

Ireland. Government needs to pursue a proper pension investment strategy

At a time the economy was booming, the National Pension Reserve Fund was established in 2001, taking up a proposal by Prof Philip Lane to plan ahead for future growth in the numbers of pensioners. The numbers aged over 65 are set to more than double by 2046, according to CSO projections. The share of the population over 65 will also rise rapidly in coming decades from 13 per cent of the population in 2011 to between 25 and 30 per cent of...

November 24, 2017
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September 2017

22Sep

Ireland. Government to introduce auto-enrolment pension scheme for all workers

Leo Varadkar used a speech to the employer's group IBEC tonight to announce the centrepiece of an upcoming national pension plan. He told the audience that two-thirds of private sector workers in Ireland have no pension, warning that the time bomb must be addressed now. “This issue has been long-fingered for too long and now that the economy is recovering strongly we must act decisively and we will publish a five year road-map for pension reform before the end of the...

September 22, 2017
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July 2017

28Jul

Ireland. Strong support for mandatory pension scheme

A large majority of PAYE taxpayers are in favour of a new automatic pension scheme being introduced for those who have no occupational pension. The survey from tax specialists Taxback.com found that 84pc of people would be in favour of an auto-enrolment type scheme. The Government has plans to bring in this type of scheme, with the Taoiseach recently telling the Dáil he intends to bring forward proposals for an auto-enrolment scheme. But he gave no time frame for this. Auto-enrolment involves...

July 28, 2017
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18Jul

Ireland. Investors using their pension pots to back property investment

INVESTMENT levels in Northern Ireland's commercial property sector appear to be on the increase again after a slow start to the year, as the funding options for those seeking to invest also expand. After falling by more than a half to £213 million across 2016, the latest market forecasts suggest that figure could be surpassed in the third quarter of this year alone, with over £200m worth of deals that are currently being negotiated expected to complete over the summer...

July 18, 2017
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10Jul

Ireland. Pension provision: exposing a two-tier and unequal system

A glaring anomaly in the way the cost of pensions is calculated in the public and private sectors has been revealed in a new study. It is further evidence of the need to put workers in both sectors on a more even footing when it comes to pension provision. The study by the Association of Pension Trustees of Ireland shows private sector workers and their employers would have to spend millions of euro to earn the kind of retirement benefits...

July 10, 2017
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