Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Davitt for the opportunity to speak to the House on the issue. Unfortunately, the Minister was unable to be here.

As I outlined, the SFT limit applies to all types of pensions in both the private and public sectors. However, it is the case that the valuation methodology for applying SFT varies between defined contribution and defined benefit schemes, as I have already outlined, due to differences between the schemes. An examination of SFT is under way and will consider, inter alia, the valuation methodologies for the SFT as well as options for simplifying the SFT regime. As always, equity across taxpayers and sectors remains an important consideration.