Irish Govt could let people defer state pension for better benefits
Written by Theo Andrew
07/02/18
Employees who want to work past the traditional retirement age could be incentivised by being able to defer their state pension and receive higher benefits once retired.
According to a report in the Irish Times, Department of Social Protection assistant secretary Tim Duggen said that those who decided to put off receiving their state pension once they reached qualifying age, could be offered a actuarially-enhanced pension and continue working for a further period.
The incentive could apply to those who aren’t entitled to a full pension, allowing them to work for longer in order to continue make social insurance contributions, Duggen said at a Workplace Relations seminar.
Duggen made the comments in light of the state pension fund which he said would go into a small deficit by 2020, and which could reach €3 billion in a decade.
Furthermore, Duggen also reiterated the government’s intention to move towards an auto-enrolment pension system, where people would be able to opt out and re-enroll again at a later date.
He said that Ireland could achieve auto-enrolment in four years, but said the it would “fail miserably if it was chopped and changed” every time there was a change in administration.
