Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

Is the Minister aware that each year some well-placed individuals can receive a subsidy of €50,000 into their pensions from the taxpayer while under half of people in employment get nothing from the scheme? Does this tally with the Minister's idea of fairness in a tax relief scheme? It certainly does not tally with mine.

During the course of the general election, proposals were made for a one-for-one pension scheme for those on low incomes. Has financial provision been made in the programme for Government for the introduction of such a scheme? During the course of the election, the Minister quickly withdrew that proposal when it was floated by the then Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Brennan. If this scheme is to come from a Green Paper process, will it have to wait in a queue after all other tax code commitments have been met? Will it be pushed to the end of the new programme for Government and only supported if there are enough resources left?

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