Matt Cooper is presenter of the last word on todayfm, one of the country's leading drivetime news and current affairs programmes. A former editor of the Sunday tribune he is now leader page columnist with the Sunday times. He is the author of the number 1 bestseller "who really runs Ireland?"

2010: Appointed Minister for Social and Family Affairs.
2007: Appointed Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
2002: Appointed Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
2001-2002: Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food & Rural Development, with special responsibility for Rural Development.
1997-2001: Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and Islands with special responsibility for the Gaeltacht, Irish language and island development.
1991-97: Member Galway County Council and of a number of subsidiary Committees.
1995-1997: Party Spokesman for Islands, Gaeltacht and Rural Development.
1994-97 Member of the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation.
1992: Elected to Dáil Éireann.
1989-92: Elected Senator on the Cultural and Educational Panel.

Rachael is an IAPF Council Member and currently acts as Chairperson of the IAPF Benefits Committee.

Rachael is a Director of Hewitt Associates and has been with the company since 1998. Initially she worked in the London office. Rachael subsequently established the actuarial practice in Belfast before returning to Dublin to lead the integration of the Delany Bacon & Woodrow and Hewitt businesses in Ireland. Prior to joining Hewitt, Rachael held actuarial and wider HR consulting roles at Sedgwick Dineen in Dublin, Sedgwick Noble Lowndes in Bristol and Hay Management Consultants in London. As well as providing actuarial and general consultancy services to a wide range of corporate clients, Rachael is also a pension scheme Trustee.

Rachael is a qualified actuary, a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland and a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in the UK.

Bob Moreen leads Mercer's global work in pension plan design and formulating Mercer positions on retirement reform policies. He consults with clients on a wide variety of retirement issues. He joined Mercer in 1989 after holding consulting and actuarial positions with a competitor firm and the Prudential Insurance Company of America.

Bob has a bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, from Princeton University. He also has master's and PhD degrees from Princeton. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries and the American Academy of Actuaries.

Philip Smith is a partner in Arthur Cox’s Dublin Office where he specialises in Pensions Law and Charity Law. Philip originally qualified as a solicitor in England & Wales with the firm of Rowe & Maw (now Mayer Brown) where he qualified into the pensions department. He moved to Ireland in 1999 but has always maintained dual qualification. He currently holds practising certificates in both Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Philip’s practice involves advising on all aspects of occupational pension schemes both in advising trustees and employers on the issues which arise in the day to day running of pension schemes and in advising on the pensions aspects of corporate transactions. He has particular expertise in advising all-island, cross-border schemes.

Philip is the immediate past Chairman of the Association of Pension Lawyers in Ireland and a member of the APL(UK). He is a member of the Council of the Irish Institute of Pensions Managers and an Associate member of the PMI.

David Harris is the Director of UK-based Tor Financial Consulting Limited which provides boutique, thought-leadership services to domestic and international clients.

Prior to establishing Tor Financial, he was a senior consultant with Watson Wyatt & Company, Reigate, UK and Watson Wyatt LLP in Washington DC. His areas of expertise include individual and corporate wraps, international pension systems and reform programmes, consumer protection and compliance strategies in the development of pension regulation, communication and education.

David has testified several times before the United States Congress on international social security and pension reform and has briefed Australian, US and UK politicians on global trends involving pension and health care reforms.