No 'immediate' pension plan - Cowen

Taoiseach Brian Cowen said today the Government has no “immediate” plans to raise the retirement age for public sector workers…

Taoiseach Brian Cowen said today the Government has no “immediate” plans to raise the retirement age for public sector workers.

"What you've got to do is put in place plans for the long-term future that will provide for a sustainable pensions policy," Mr Cowen said today. "That will all be announced in due course."

He was responding to newspaper reports today that the Government was considering raising the retirement age.

In the Budget last December, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan said the minimum pension age for new public servants would also be increased from 65 to 66 and then linked to increases in the State pension age.

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Mr Cowen and Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin will launch the Government’s new national pensions framework next Wednesday.

This document will outline reforms to State, private and public service pension provision and will address the role of the employee, employer and State in providing for pensions, as well as the future age of retirement.