Just one in every three Irish citizens are confident that their public and occupational pension can ensure their standard of living in retirement, new research has revealed.

As a result, more than two in every five said they were seeking safety above all else in a pension, with a third looking for affordability, 29% for tax relief and 28% for flexibility in payments.

In contrast just one in six stated that they wanted investment performance.

Eight out of every ten survey respondents said they would opt for the certainty of knowing they would get back at least what they invested over potential higher returns and the associated risks.

Nearly half said they would be willing to pay extra for certain safety features that would assist their loved ones if they were to die before retirement age.

45% said they would pay more to protect themselves from outliving their savings.

This is significant because the participants underestimated their life expectancy, putting it at 78.7 years, where as the average life expectancy is 82.81 years.

The results were gathered as part of research carried out among 16,000 respondents across 15 European countries by Swiss researcher gfs on behalf of the European insurance association, Insurance Europe, of which Insurance Ireland is a member.

The bi-annual exercise also found that two out of every five respondents save for retirement through their work or professional activity.

One in every five said they have a personal pension plan.

But just 19% of women said they are saving for retirement through work or their profession, and just 15% have a personal pension plan.

"The survey shows a drastic gender difference in relation to pensions," said Insurance Ireland CEO, Moyagh Murdock.

"The results highlight that a widening of the gender pension gap is inevitable if we don't change the conditions around access to pensions for women."

The move comes as the Government prepares to introduce pension auto-enrolment next year.

But Insurance Ireland claims the plans need to be urgently reviewed.

"The desire of Irish citizens for safety and flexibility shows that the government must reconsider its plans for auto-enrolment," said Ms Murdock.

"The complex and burdensome approach around a new and costly Central Processing Agency must be reviewed."

"We have one of the most sophisticated life insurance markets in the world, but the sector and its longstanding expertise is being ignored as Ireland plans to hand the running of auto-enrolment pensions over to a new government agency."