Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that there is no levy in place now but we want to ensure that it will not, at some point in the future, be brought back in the format in which it previously existed. No Government wants to bring in a levy like that, but the amount of moneys held by pension funds is an irresistible temptation to Governments when times are hard and when ready cash is needed. The Minister mentioned the tax relief for pension contributions, which is very generous, but unfortunately the problem with the tax relief for pension contributions is that it operates in a very skewed way. I saw figures recently which suggested that 70% of that tax relief went directly to the top 20% of earners and less than 0.5% went to the bottom 20% of earners. We have to try to find a better way to do it. In view of what the Minister said about the Constitution and in view of the advice he has got I will not push this Bill to a vote.

Deputy Brady said that this is not the way to go about making laws. That is rich coming from the masters of the one or two-line Bill. They give the impression that they are doing something and that they have some concerns about people from any walk of life. I could cite a list of them here now but I will not delay the House.

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