Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)

I wish to comment on something the Minister said. He explained that the jobs initiative had to be revenue neutral and that to get the money to fund the jobs initiative he has targeted the pensions industry. The reality is that he did not target the pensions industry, he targeted pensioners and those who have saved. The point Deputies Ross and Michael McGrath have made is precisely that the pensions industry should be targeted. We can have all the good intentions we like but there is nothing in the Bill to make the people the Minister correctly refers to as the administrators contribute in any way shape or form. If what the Minister stated is correct, that is to say, some of these people are charging three or four times the levy, that is the most convincing argument I have heard to compel them to play their part and take their share of the burden.

The Minister repeated an argument made earlier to the effect that people built up their pensions with the aid of generous tax relief at a high marginal rate, which is true. Unfortunately, the position is that the people who devised these tax relief schemes, those in successive Governments, recognised the fact that with an ageing population there will be a great level of dependency here in the not too distant future and the purpose was to encourage people to save because there is no way the State will be able to carry the burden and the Government was obliged to encourage people to provide for themselves. If a Government puts it to people that provided they put so much into contributing and providing for themselves they will be afforded tax relief and then people come forward in good faith and make the decision to save in return for the tax relief, the Government cannot turn around 20 years later and say they are sorry about it but they gave too much tax relief in the beginning and now they wish to claw back some of it.

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