Nothing like kicking the can down the road – this suggestion will turn the pensions time bomb into a nuclear one.

‘Ensuring banks also benefited from the windfall’. No surprises there then.

Very dangerous idea I think. So IBEC want to encourage yet another, short term, splurge of spending with money that will have far better uses after retirement?

In other words try and get people to spend today what’ll they need tomorrow.Crazy idea,as said earlier already a pension timebomb waiting to happen this would only make it worse.

Did I completely miss the point of a pension scheme??

It’s a good idea, the pension funds are making (well mine at least!) are making no money. I really could do with freeing some of it up.

Have ibec lost the plot? Whats the agenda? Help banks? They are not very helpful are they? Bring in new banks that are able to behave as real banks should. That would help businesses, ibec should lobby for that, not getting the people to blow their savings.

Also, The idea that people would spend more if they have lower debt applies in only limited cases. If I reduce my debt to, say, 100000 euro, I am still very tight for money.

People forget that IBEC is just employers trade union …This is the same group advised that we vote yes on lisbon and the jobs would follow…Just like any organisation that lobbies on behalf of its members its all about what benefits its paid members.So if IBEC is lobbying for AVCS to be allowed to be released it means savings for its members ie employers who cannot afford to meet the financial payouts that AVCS require…So no i wont be looking to spend my AVCS i going to need them when i eventually retire assumming i can afford to retire…IBEC would be better served confronting government on its continued austerity measures. no country has evey taxed its way out of recession and we sure as hell are not going to buck this well treaded road…pity we didt display the same balls as iceland…it burnt all the bond holders and guess what armageddon didt strike

The most irresponsible suggestion for a while,relative to public pensions levels these are sad and to suggest weaken them further is contemptible and wrong.

Would ibec be thinking about the pension levy being increased substantially in the coming years and this is maybe a way to get your money out before hand

Wouldn’t this lead to a massive loss of capital from the banks, the same banks we drove the country into near unrepayable debt recapitalizing? Foolish, almost dangerous suggestion, especial considering few people actually have enough in their pensions to live on in their old age.

Good old IBEC, consistent if nothing else.

this wouldn’t have anything to do with ibec trying to lower our expectations on retirement so therefore lowering their members liability and contribution rates in the long term the pensions time bomb has already gone off the fall out will be seen in Decembers budget

There are pros and cons to this idea. I don’t subscribe to the IBEC conspiracy theories though. Nobody in IBEC is recommending that we go on a reckless splurge spending all our savings in one go.

On the plus side of this it would mean more spending in the economy. Extra money into the economy would be welcome at this point. It’s what a lot of economists recommend as a means of easing the financial crisis. The more stimulation you can give to the ecomony the more growth you can get and in the longer term it is growth that is going to have to be the major solution to Ireland’s problems. That’s the theory at least.

The problem is the source of the money. For years people have been told to prepare for their retirements. While there would be a limit of the amount of money they could access, asking them to forget about their retirement funds for a while and spend some of the money they’ve saved may just encourage people back into bad habits and create major problems in the longer term.

Interestingly it’s a complete reversal of the SSIA situation ten years ago when the Government gave people bonuses to save money.

Very prudent advice there from IBEC??, but I’d say this has more to do with their members being able to get their hands on their some of their extremely large executive pensions contributions they made during the boom times and not the ordinary PAYE workers restricted pension schemes. Perhaps it’s the best suggestion they can come up with to make sure that they have some proposals come budget time if the Corporate tax rate is up for review.

Having mass withdrawal from pensions will have a knock on effect on the remaining funds and impact those who are in an age group coming up to retirement.

Stupid and dangerous suggestion from IBEC. Its that type of poisonous MBA mentality that a one size fits all approach to management and group think is the way forward and you can apply it to all aspects every business or economy.

Corporate Tax rate – sacrosanct
Pension Funds- ah work away their folks

Wonder will they suggest we release some of the built up negative-equity in our homes next?
Clowns….