Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

During the election, as Minister for Finance, I clarified, without any equivocation, the issue. It would be considered in the context of the cost of pensions in the tax system as pension relief schemes work. There is considerable room for manoeuvre to see what changes can be made to pension arrangements that could accommodate, on a revenue-neutral basis, an SSIA-type scheme in the context of the full panoply of incentives available. Taking into account the limited resources of low and middle income earners, there is a need to provide some other means of attracting them to supplementary pension provision beyond the tax incentive schemes available at the marginal rate.

See this speech in context