IAPF Spring 2018 Irish Pensions Magazine

18 | IRISH PENSIONS MAGAZINE | SPRING 2018 FEATURE and sustainable. The plan takes the position that employees, employers and the State each have a part to play in pension provision. The Government has made a clear commitment that the State pension will continue to be the bedrock of the pension system. To this end, measures in the plan intend to provide long term security and confidence in the level of State pension payments. This will also benefit individuals by providing greater transparency for personal financial planning and improved confidence regarding the level of any private savings needed to supplement the State pension. However, to encourage people to set aside personal retirement savings, the pension system should be clearly seen to be one which is reliable and well managed and be one which participants can understand and trust. Readers of Irish Pensions are likely already familiar with the broad suite of measures contained in the Roadmap so I will concentrate on areas that may be of most immediate interest. The Total Contributions Approach The State pension will be reformed and, from 2020, the Government will introduce the ‘Total Contributions Approach’ (TCA) for the State levels of personal savings. If not addressed, this will result in significant and unwanted reductions in living standards at retirement. • The need to improve pension scheme governance and supervision, provide for increased economies of scale and deliver a more coherent and transparent environment for private pension provision. • The need to support Defined Benefit schemes in addressing the systemic challenges they face and improve protections for members and beneficiaries through regulation that continues to support security and transparency. • The need to improve further the sustainability of public service pension liabilities and build on previous reforms. • The need to promote the active participation of older people in the workforce and support growing numbers in both the public and private sectors who want to work, or may need to work, up to and beyond the State pension age. There is a range of guiding principles underlying the Roadmap. Firstly, reform proposals must be affordable