Brennan considers opt out pension system

SOCIAL Affairs Minister Seamus Brennan is considering the possibility of creating a new pensions system which would see everyone automatically entered into a pension scheme and given the chance of opting out.

The proposal is one step short of mandatory pensions for all which Mr Brennan has already indicated as one way of addressing the fact that just half of those in the labour force have pension cover.

However, with huge resistance expected from employers, the financial sector, unions and advocates for the poor, the introduction of mandatory pensions would prove politically difficult to implement.