I have three brief questions. The Labour Party and I suppose the rest of the Opposition are bitterly disappointed that we have reached the end of this session, and concieveably the end of this Dáil, without sight of the pensions Bill. Will the Minister agree this perhaps was the primary responsibility he had, but he has not delivered on it? All we got was a briefing on PRSAs a few months ago. Will he agree that a serious deficiency under his administration is that he did not deliver on the pensions Bill?
Does he agree with my colleague, the vice-president of SIPTU, Jack O'Connor, who said at the recent SIPTU conference that perhaps up to 65% of workers in the private sector do not have an occupational pension? He will be aware that the great growth in jobs as a result of the economic boom in recent years has been in the private sector, therefore, we are talking about hundreds of thousands of workers not having an occupational pension. What does he propose to do about that before his administration ends?
Will he agree that there is a growing band of pensioners waiting in the long grass for him, the Taoiseach and this Administration? I am talking about secondary teachers, taxi men and pensioners such as those from the Irish Press group, the Ford motor company, about whom we have all been circulated in recent months, and Tara Mines, health board ancillary staff, nurses, teachers, Aer Lingus, Aer Rianta and I could go on. There is a major problem in pension provision here. The Minister has had four years and one month to address that, but he has not delivered and people are now left in a difficult position.