For many of the 1,170,000 SSIA holders, the initiative was the first time that they started a regular savings plan, and it would be a shame to see those good habits frittered away in a cloud of consumer spending. Because our young population will not be young forever, and unless something is done about a certain spiral, we could be facing into an ageing population which cannot afford to sustain itself.

The issue is pensions.

There are currently about 4.5 people for every pensioner, which means that there are 4.5 tax incomes to sustain these retired people. But it has been estimated that by 2026 years there will be only 2.7 people for every pensioner. Within 50 years, that number will be down to 1.5 - which is significantly reduced on the current situation. And far from taking the situation on board, the bad news is that the current working population is doing little or nothing to help itself into the future.

Part of the problem is, of course, that, for many younger people, the future seems very far away. Another part of the problem is that, for many younger workers who are already to the pin of their collar trying to make ends meet, a pension seems to be a luxury that they simply can't afford at the moment. But that luxury will become a necessity as they approach retirement age, at which point it will be too late to start saving.

The figures speak for themselves. Out of a workforce of 2 million people, more than 900,000, do not have a personal pension. It is telling that more than half of the people who do not hold a personal pension are women. But if this issue is not addressed into the near future, we could have a real problem on our hands - because, by 2056, the number of people aged over 65 will more than treble from a current level of 464,000 to 1,500,000.

The Pensions Board recently carried out some independent consumer research, which shows some interesting findings regarding the reasons why younger people do not have pensions.

For those who do not contribute to a pension, the main reasons given for not doing so were: too young yet (20%);

can't afford it/too expensive (21%); and not interested in pensions (12%). But even bearing this in mind, the research goes on to show that four out of five people surveyed said that the State old age pension would not meet their needs in retirement.

Part of the reason why the SSIA was so popular was because of the money which the savings could generate.

25% was about the best deal on the market, and this enticed more than a million people into the scheme. But, in effect, the pensions market offers an ever better deal than the SSIA, with a tax kickback from the state that is almost double what is on offer from the SSIA (if you are taxed at the higher rate of 42%).

"Essentially when you buy a pension, for every 100 you spend, you will get about 48 back, " said Aongus Horgan, assistant head of information at the Pensions Board. "In fact, the rebate can be bigger than 48, when you take into account tax, PRSI and health levies."

Of course, it was much easier to sell the idea of 1 for every 4 saved to the public, rather than walking a financially inexperienced population through the vagaries of the tax system. But the fact remains that a pension offers the best value for money of practically any other investment vehicle on the Irish market - and that includes property.

There is a certain fallacy which has gained currency with the success of the housing boom that property investment is an easy alternative to pension investment.

But the reality is that, while many people will have stored up a nice little nest egg with their property portfolios, they could have done even better in the long term with a pension.

There are, in fact, a host of reasons why pensions are a better bet than property. To begin with, property investment does not give a person much diversification, which is risky in itself. But even if the market continues to rise, the charges inherent in starting a pension are far less than the costs of investing in property (think stamp duty alone, and you are already into big money). And add to this the fact that the gains from a pension are tax free (as compared to the capital gains tax that you have to pay on profits from a non-primary residence).

Still, the cost of pensions will be an issue, and even with the tax incentives, many people feel that they simply don't have the spare cash. But, as with many financial products, the key is staring early, and in some cases, the prices are surprisingly low.

"Take a couple of general examples, " said Horgan. "A 21 year old woman, earning 21,000 per annum, will need only 35 per week to save for a pension that is two thirds of her salary. And because of the tax back, it will end up costing her only about 26.

"However, if that person waited until she was 42 years old before starting her pension, it would be considerably more expensive, " he continued. "A 42 year old on 42,000 per annum will need to pay about 310 per week to save for two thirds of her salary - although with the higher rate of tax, she will be able to get about half of that back." So the overall message is that pensions are safe, offer good results at the end of the day, and have been designed to go the distance. But if that is not enough for people to get involved, especially those on lower incomes, then Minister for Social Affairs Seamus Brennan has just announced another scheme which could act as a further incentive for regular SSIA savers to become regular pension contributors.

According to Minister Brennan, the Government will pay a bonus of 1 for every 3 transferred directly into a pension account of SSIA holders who are taxed at 20% - and significantly in the case of those who are not in the tax net to begin with - up to a maximum of 2,500. This means that those on the lower end of the taxation scheme can put in up to 7,500 of their SSIA savings, and get a full 2,500 back. In order to qualify for the pension incentives, savers have three months from the date that their SSIAs mature to invest in a pension product.

Of course, even those taxed at the higher rate will be able to convert their SSIAs into pension money, although it is important to talk to a financial advisor regarding whether to drip feed the money into a pension account to avail of the tax kickback, or whether that kickback will be available to those who invest the full lump.