DEPARTMENT OF Finance officials were continuing to work on a pension insolvency scheme, Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin told the Dáil.

Technical issues had arisen, but progress continued to be made, she said.

"The fact that regulations are not in place has not impacted on the funds because it is not as if they have not been wound up," Ms Hanafin added.

"The fund managers know the scheme is coming and the funds will be included in the scheme if they qualify." The Minister was responding to Labour spokeswoman Roisin Shortall, who said that the Government had produced a document last June proposing such a scheme.

Ms Hanafin said the Government was aware that wider and longer-term pension issues required a comprehensive and co-ordinated response.

Following the conclusion of the successful consultation process last year, the Government had been considering options to address the challenges facing the pensions' system raised in a Green Paper.

Those issues, said Ms Hanafin, related to social welfare pensions, the sustainability of the pension system, the adequacy of the current provision and other issues about regulation, public sector pensions and retirement age.

Ms Hanafin said that over the past year, the economic environment had changed considerably and there was a need to ensure that decisions made were "robust enough to withstand new and unprecedented challenges".

She added that the recent McCarthy report, and the report of the commission on taxation, had both considered pension issues.

"It is entirely appropriate that the Government should take the time to arrive at sound decisions about the future of our pension system, given the potential of such decisions to significantly impact on this and future generations," he added.