ICTU gets tough on pension tax breaks

TAX breaks for the wealthy need to be reined in to make room for better pension incentives for low-paid workers, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) said yesterday.

The group also said there should be no move to force compulsory pension schemes on employers and workers.

ICTU general secretary David Begg said pensions would be top priority in the next talks on a national pay deal, but also warned that hundreds of thousands of people were “sleepwalking” into poverty in their old age by failing to wake up to their pension needs.