Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If that is so, it is rather presumptive, particularly considering the reality of people's lives, various sources of income and so on, to presume that the person who is put into auto-enrolment does not wind up paying 40% tax on the way out, on the total cumulative income. If people do not pay that, that is because they have a low income. Any people who put money into a private pension fund who wind up paying 40% tax only do so on the basis that, on any income, the higher one goes, the more tax one pays. I think the out and exempt part is the same because the income is treated the same. It is only the quantity that might be different and, therefore, I maintain that a trick is being played on people here and that the scheme is a bad deal, particularly for that middle-income group. Will the witnesses clarify a matter? If one person in a couple is earning a good income, that person would presumably get tax relief, but the other is in auto-enrolment, will be treated individually and will not get tax relief. In the case of tax at the moment, someone has to be legally married to a spouse, because that is the legal situation. He or she has to be in a civil partnership or a legal marriage. It does not cover cohabiting couples at the moment. The people on auto-enrolment would not get any relief on their investment but would get the kickback instead.