Infrastructure pension plan welcomed

THE Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF) has expressed its initial support for the use of pension fund investments in infrastructure projects to aid the construction industry; but said that the final decision ultimately rests with actual fund managers themselves.

In a detailed submission to Government, the Construction Industry Council (CIC) has come up with a national economic recovery blueprint aimed at saving 70,000 jobs in the building industry and has called for the use of pension fund investment to effectively bankroll national infrastructure projects.

In a statement made yesterday, after holding talks with the Department of Finance, the IAPF said: “The general view expressed by us to the department is that any investment prospect that offers a potential high rate of return with an acceptable level of risk is likely to be attractive to pension funds. However, such an investment would need to be attractive in its own right and trustees and fund managers would need to consider whether or not they wished to partake in such an investment.”