Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

The directive is clear in setting out what a member state institution can do. It can borrow only for liquidity purposes and on a temporary basis. Investing in a property through a pension fund does not improve anyone's liquidity and is certainly not on a short-term basis.

I see no need for this working group. The Minister could withdraw his amendment tonight, accept mine or contact the EU Commission, which I am surprised he has not done, to see if we will be materially breaching this EU directive. If the Minister proceeds with this tonight, I will contact the Commission and ask if the Minister is in breach of the directive.

The Minister did not answer a number of questions I put to him about who convinced him to change his mind on this matter on Report Stage in the Dáil. He said he received correspondence. I would bet my bottom dollar that the correspondence was from the pensions industry because this is a very lucrative loophole for it.

The Minister referred to newspaper articles, which I also read. The sequence of events is interesting. Those articles were published on Sunday, 27 February. At that stage the Minister had not done his U-turn. The articles indicated that the Minister might make a U-turn. They make interesting reading. While the journalists' bylines were attached, I would also bet they were written by those in the pensions industry. These articles greatly encouraged the Minister to make a U-turn and, lo and behold, he came to the Dáil on Tuesday, 1 March and did so. In last Sunday's newspapers, there was no mention of that U-turn. The articles' purpose was to influence the Minister and they did so, along with the correspondence the Minister received and any other contact he had with the pensions industry.

This confirms much of what I have been saying, namely, that the Minister is greatly influenced by the pensions industry and bends over backwards to facilitate it. However, I have heard nothing from the Minister tonight regarding efforts to protect the consumer, nor have I heard anything from the industry in that regard. I am also concerned about the EU directive. If the Minister contacts the Commission tomorrow it will give him the advice he needs. If I am wrong, I will admit it. The Minister does not need to set up this working group.

The Minister should accept my amendment tonight or at least return to the Bill as initiated because if he continues down this road we will be in trouble. I do not want to wait until September to see whether another working group will tell the Minister he is right or wrong.

I am not convinced of the Minister's argument about encouraging people to buy properties through their pension funds. The Minister knows well that only very wealthy individuals with very large pension funds will do that. The ordinary PAYE worker on a modest income will not be availing of it. Once again, it is the wealthy who will be helped by this and who will avail of further generous tax reliefs. That is not how we should be dealing with our pension schemes.