Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The number of people who actually had a pension pot above €2 million in the last year for which data is available from Revenue is just over 230. These are gold-plated pensions that are costing hundreds of millions of euro. Ordinary taxpayers, people who are working in Tesco at the minute, are paying taxes to subsidise these pensions. The Minister not only wants to see these pensioners being subsidised to the tune of €75,000, which they can get at the minute under the rules, but wants them to be able to draw down pensions in excess of €80,000 or €90,000 and still get the State to subsidise them.

Why does the Minister believe that workers whose pension pots are not €2 million or even €2.8 million, which he wants them to go up to with tax relief, should subsidise that? Think of most people in the State. The average pension pot in the State is €110,000. Most people do not have a whiff of retiring on €60,000, €70,000 or €80,000, which can happen at the minute with full tax relief, and now the Minister wants to put that up to €2.8 million. This is back to the mad old days. These are gold-plated pensions. Does the Minister think it is a gold-plated pension where someone is able to retire on €100,000? How many people in this State does he think are able to retire on pensions of €100,000? Why does he think that the taxpayer should be subsidising that pension because that is exactly what happens. For every euro that goes in, the taxpayer puts in 40% of that. That is what the Minister is arguing for.