THE Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF) said Government pensions’ policy discriminates against most PAYE workers and this is hampering pensions coverage in Ireland.

The tweaking of the pensions system will not increase the low level of pension coverage, experts said today.

The Pensions Board has recommended that the State top up contributions to Personal Retirement Savings Accounts in a similar way to the SSIA scheme.

A FLIGHT of funds and jobs from the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) is likely unless the Government acts to make it more attractive to investors, it was claimed last night.

THE State will have to spend billions more than it envisaged on pensions in the coming decades, a Government strategy report indicated yesterday.

BUSINESS group ISME yesterday called the Government’s Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) a “total and complete disaster” that should be replaced.

Brian O’Mahony, Chief Business Correspondent

EXTRA tax incentives to encourage Special Savings Incentive Account (SSIA) holders invest in pensions would be too generous, according to confidential Government briefing documents prepared in the run-up to last year’s Budget.

TAX breaks for the wealthy need to be reined in to make room for better pension incentives for low-paid workers, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) said yesterday.

THE Irish Small and Medium Enterprise Association (ISME) has slammed pension policy and branded PRSAs - Personal Retirement Savings Accounts - an “unmitigated disaster.”

HUNDREDS of thousands of people will have to work until they are 70 or older to fund their retirements because they are leaving it too late to take out pensions.

COMPULSORY pension schemes co-funded by employers, workers and the State may be on the way after the Government said yesterday that it needed new solutions to the country’s pension problems.

THE take-up of Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) continues to slow down, according to figures published last week by the Pensions Board, the agency charged by the government with boosting pension coverage.

INDIVIDUAL Irish banks have contributed to an undermining of trust in the Irish banking sector, Irish Life and Permanent group chief executive David Went has acknowledged.

Minister Cowen has done little to encourage workers to pay into pensions, writes David Clerkin.

A RADICAL new pensions and savings plan to replace the Special Savings Incentive Accounts (SSIA) will be brought to Cabinet by Social and Family Affairs Minister Seamus Brennan before the summer.

CRITICS of the Government’s troubled pensions initiative have been given fresh ammunition, after new figures show a slump in sales of Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs).

Just over 46,000 people have now taken out a Personal Retirement Savings Account, it was revealed today.

Insurance brokers have called on the Government to make payouts from Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) totally tax-free on maturity, up to €30,000 per annum, as an incentive to boost pension uptake.

Insurance brokers have called on the Government to make PRSA payouts completely tax-free on maturity of up to €30,000 per annum as an incentive to increase pension uptake.

PERSONAL Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) continued their slow progress towards the mainstream during the summer, according to figures released yesterday.

The latest figures available show that 37,000 Personal Retirement Savings Accounts have been opened since their launch last year.

New research shows that people are now much more aware of PRSAs but that take-up of pension plans is still slow.

IRELAND is ahead of Britain in tackling its pension problem, but the take-up of personal pensions still needs to be improved, the Pensions Board said yesterday.

SIPTU president Jack O’Connor has called for mandatory contributions by employers to occupational pensions schemes if the Government’s voluntary scheme fails.

Social Affairs Minister Mary Coughlan has warned that the Government may consider making it compulsory for employees to take out private pensions.

THE prosecution by the Pensions Board of six companies for non-compliance with pension regulations is at an advanced stage.

IRISH LIFE & Permanent (IL&P) beat market expectations yesterday when it reported first-half pre-tax profits of €192 million.

Bank of Ireland Life (which incorporates New Ireland Assurance), Ireland's leading retail life and pensions provider, today announced results for the half-year to 30 June, 2004.

Sarah Loftus, head of savings and investments at the EBS, talks to David Clerkin.

ONLY one quarter of Irish people think they are saving enough to be comfortable when they retire, according to research published yesterday by Bank of Ireland.

THE Consumers’ Association of Ireland has accused the Pensions Board of distorting the success of the personal pensions savings plans knows as PRSAs.

The Pensions Board said today that the uptake of Personal Retirement Savings Accounts is progressing steadily, according to its latest quarterly review of data from all PRSA providers to the end of March.

THE Irish Insurance Federation wants us to move from a nanny to a “nappy” state.

THE small business lobby represented by ISME has called on Government to scrap PRSAs (Personal Retirement Savings Accounts) and to introduce a State Group Pension Structure run by the National Treasury Management Agency.

ISME has hit out at proposals to introduce mandatory employer contributions to PRSAs as an attempt by the Pensions Board to "pass the buck".

IRISH investors pumped almost €2 billion into retail investment products last year as confidence improved and stock markets rebounded, according to the Irish Association of Investment Managers (IAIM).

THE average managed pension fund increased by 12.5% in 2003, Coyle Hamilton states in its review of the Irish pensions market.

LESS than 20,000 workers have taken -up Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSA) while employers are facilitating contributions to pensions plans of just 7,499 workers under the scheme.

The Pensions Board is reporting a steady increase in the uptake of PRSAs.

The Pensions Board said today that there was an increase in the uptake of PRSAs with 19,022 PRSA pensions taken out by the end of December 2003, representing a combined value of €41m.

THE Irish Pensions Board believes it is too early to consider making PRSA pensions compulsory after Hibernian Life & Pensions said it was time to do so.

INSURER Ark Life has reported a small rise in premium sales for 2003 after stripping out the effects of Government-backed special savings accounts from the previous year’s results.