Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

——benefits for older people such as contributory and non-contributory pensions, carer's allowance and fuel allowance are extremely well deserved. Will the Minister tell the House how much is spent on contributory and non-contributory State pensions? I believe it is approximately €2.4 billion or €2.5 billion. I will focus on the relationship between this and what we forgo in tax in respect of occupational pensions. I believe this figure is approximately €3 billion. As I stated previously, if we did away with tax relief on private pensions in the morning, we could double State benefits overnight. I know this will not happen and I do not advocate it. This is because, as the Minister previously told me, fewer people would take up private pensions because they would not receive tax relief, a point I accept.

However, my point is that we forgo a considerable amount of tax, approximately €3 billion, in respect of private pensions. Does the Minister believe this is good value for money? I do not believe it is. The majority of pensioners are still dependent on the State pension. Thankfully, this is now a reasonable amount. Why are the majority of people still dependent on the State pension for their income when we spend €3 billion on tax foregone in respect of private pensions? There is something very wrong with this system and this should be addressed by carrying out a cost benefit analysis of the tax we forgo. If this money were not given out in tax relief for private pensions, we could spend much of it on old people and benefit more people to a greater extent.

We know that tax forgone on occupational pensions goes to the better-off who are well able to look after their pensions and probably have other financial interests, such as properties. It is a question of value for money. Could the Minister give the House his opinion on the value for money we receive from expenditure on State pensions vis-À-vis tax forgone on private pensions?