The Government is looking at measures that would reward people who delay drawing down their State pensions.
The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Ms Coughlan, said yesterday that her Department would publish a discussion document before the end of the year that would explore the possibility of providing higher pensions to people who defer payment past the age of 65.
A spokesman for the Minister said enhanced pensions for people who retire later was "not an immediate prospect but something that we will examine".
Speaking at a Society of Actuaries' conference in Dublin, Ms Coughlan said the relationship between tax, pensions and benefits would be monitored closely to see if it could provide greater incentives to people to extend their working lives.
"We need to strike a balance between economic, social and individual requirements in that, ideally, a person who wishes to continue working should not be obliged to retire," she said.
But she stressed that any measures would satisfy the voluntary requests of individuals and that an increase in State pensions age, as suggested by a recent Society of Actuaries report, was "not on the Government agenda".
Mr Jim Kehoe, an actuary from consultancy firm Mercer, told the conference that raising the State pensions age would disproportionately disadvantage lower paid people. "It would be far more constructive to break down the traditional barriers between work and retirement in favour of gradual retirement," he said.
Mr Kehoe said there were four times as many employees taking on all the risks associated with private pension provision than there were 10 years ago. He called on the Government to give contributors to standard Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) the option to transfer their savings into a State fund to supplement social welfare pensions.
He also recommended a limited State underpin for standard PRSAs that would provide some safeguards to those who, due to adverse stock market timing, found that their pension fund was worth less than the sum they had saved over their working life.
Senator Joe O'Toole said creative solutions were needed to solve pensions funding problems, including gradual retirement, a strategic policy on immigration and policies encouraging higher birth rates, such as comprehensive creche provisions.Laura Slattery
