Pension coverage in Ireland has risen slightly but nearly half of Irish workers are still without any type of retirement plan, according to data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The latest pensions module of the Quarterly National Household Survey found that pension cover for workers aged between 20 and 69 in the first quarter of 2008 was 54 per cent, compared to 52 per cent recorded in the same period last year.
The survey has measured pension cover on six occasions between 2002 and 2008 and the rate has remained relatively stable, varying within a range of 52 per cent to 55 per cent.
The only noticeable difference has been the increase in pension cover for women.
In 2002, 45 per cent of females and 57 per cent of male workers had a pension. In 2008, the survey found the gap had narrowed, as the rate for female workers had increased to 50 per cent and the rate for males was 56 per cent.
The survey also found that over the last six years there has been an overall increase in the coverage rate for Irish nationals from a rate of 53 per cent in 2002 to 58 per cent this year. Pension coverage of non-Irish nationals has fallen from 34 per cent to 28 per cent during the same period.
The CSO said that pension cover across different occupations has also remained relatively stable since 2002, with the highest rate of coverage in the public administration and defence sectors - where more that nine in every ten workers have a pension, and lowest in the hotel and restaurant trade where the cover is less than one in four.
Three-quarters of workers classified as professional were found to have a pension compared to only a third of workers in the sales sector.