Government misses target for take-up of pensions

THE Government has been criticised for the lack of progress on increasing the number of workers with pensions as figures reveal that almost half of the Irish labour force have still not made any financial plans for their retirement.

Data from the Central Statistics Office show that just 54% of the adult population had pension cover at the start of 2008.

According to the results, the Government has had mixed fortunes in achieving targets set out in the National Pension Policy Initiative of having 70% pension cover for workers aged 30-65. The actual figure is 61%.