Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I am surprised at the sanguine view the Minister takes of tax relief for pension contributions. More than half of workers do not have pension cover and these are predominantly low income earners. Does the Minister agree that there is a real difficulty with the distribution of pension benefits? At the top end, people have unlimited opportunities if an employer is contributing to a pension for a director. On the other hand, many ordinary workers have no pension cover. Does the Minister not agree that there is a need for action to address this huge gap both in terms of equity and lack of pension cover?

Does he not agree that the SSIAs pose the risk of a considerable increase in consumer spending which could have an inflationary impact? Is there not, therefore, a great opportunity to examine pump priming pension cover, particularly for the lower paid who took the opportunity to participate in the savings scheme?

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