Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

One of the benefits for the pensions industry is that tax treatment on contributions is at the marginal rate. We all know that. That is one of the reasons there has been rightly a significant amount of money put away.

Those who have contributed over that period have been given a substantial effective tax subsidy by the State as a means of allowing them put money into such a vehicle. The State wants that to happen because we want to ensure that people have some means of income for themselves in their later years. There is clear evidence that we need some certainty in that regard, but we must be fair. If people are given a substantial tax break of 41% over a period of years at the top rate, which last year, as I understand it, was worth approximately €3.5 billion of the €13.5 billion that the Revenue handed out, as against this small imposition of a temporary levy that will be in place for a matter of three or four years at a rate of 0.6%, I would ask them to have a sense of proportion and to be fair about that. One can make any argument one likes for the purposes of dramatic effect, but let us be fair about this.