Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I did not understand the Minister's comments as regards the issues raised in respect of the application of the levy to life insurance. The central contention is that the levy will apply to pension investment business written by life insurers, but not other institutions - and that is one of the problems. Furthermore, because the levy is applying on pensions, it is hitting the consumer's investment and so is actually taking a lump out of what he or she is setting aside. It is not a levy on the service being provided by the company. It means that a whack is being taking out of the savings made by an individual rather just a levy on the value added of the insurance company, or the provider. There is some validity in those two points and I wonder whether the Minister and his advisers are sympathetic to this viewpoint even if it is not possible to address this year. It does appear that a reasonably argued case is being made, although I may be missing something. While this is a relatively simple initiative there may be unintended consequences that perhaps need to be considered.

See this speech in context