Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

I compliment those involved in drafting the Green Paper because it is an excellent document, but some of the pressing pension issues will be deferred for a minimum of one year or, in all likelihood, longer. We cannot afford that.

The Minister accepts that there is a specific problem in respect of women, as nearly 90% of women working in catering have no supplementary pensions. Does the Minister accept that, from a policy perspective, the reliance on tax-based pension schemes will not do much to help people in these categories of employment? Does he accept that the current system of tax relief given at the top rate up to a substantial limit militates against the women in question and other people on low incomes or who have taken time away from the workforce to perform caring duties? From a policy perspective, there has been no equity to date in the approach to tax relief.

See this speech in context