Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I will make a couple of comments in response to the Minister. Of course we need to be aware of macro-stability and competitiveness in doing this but let us not pretend that we are not spending €3.5 billion in this field already. The issue which should first be addressed is how equitable is the way we are spending that amount of money. That does not involve any issues of macro-economic stability.

The Minister has stated that the ceilings he set involved a pension of €135,000 for someone aged 65, which is much more than the social welfare pension. The reality is that the taxpayer has probably contributed to at least 75% of that pension, taking into account the tax relief on the way in and the reliefs in the years of accumulation. I do not have the actuarial figure but it will certainly build to over 75% by the time the pension is taken out.

It is not as if the taxpayer is not deeply involved, as it will fund these very substantial pensions at the top end to an enormous extent, far greater than people at the other end. To argue that the Minister has acted immediately is somewhat of an exaggeration. He has stated he will stop some poppies growing to a certain extraordinary height, but he has not acted immediately to bring some equity into what is happening. The measure I am suggesting would start to bring some measure of equity into the arrangements as of now.

The Minister is making out that this will be horrendously expensive, running to hundreds of millions of euro. His own colleagues estimated this some years ago at €75 million.

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