'High earners benefit from tax relief in pensions'

Thousands of high earners received almost €100m in tax relief on their pensions, the Labour Party conference heard today.

Roisin Shortall, social and family affairs spokesperson, said official figures revealed 4,700 top earners received €97m in relief on their pensions in 2004, the last year for which figures were available.

She claimed the pensions system favoured those who needed it least.

“Whenever the Government comes to a decision on pensions, one thing is for certain. The rich man, poor man approach to pensions policy has to stop,” she said.

She said two thirds of the poorest in society had no bank account and real problems accessing cash while coping with debt.

“Now, I don’t care how much high earners contribute to their pensions. That’s their business,” she added.

“Where it is our business is if the public purse is supporting individuals who simply don’t need it, while ordinary workers struggle to put money aside.

“How can anyone justify this system? It makes no sense, either on the grounds of fiscal prudence or tax equity.”

She accused ministers of not doing enough on the debt problem.

“The licensing system for money lending needs to be drastically overhauled. It’s time to end state-sanctioned extortion by money lenders,” she added.

Liz McManus, spokeswoman on communications, energy and natural resources, warned of the need to act to ensure energy supply security.

“Peak oil (the point when maximum production is reached) may well become a reality sooner that was initially predicted,” she said.

“Coupled with the growing threat of climate change it presents us with enormous challenges and the inconvenient truth is that we cannot rely on the Green Party in Government.”

Motions for debate at the conference suggest some kind of commission to look into the party’s future political, organisational and electoral development.

There is also a call from the Northern Ireland Labour Forum to contest the next local elections there.

Fianna Fáil is considering a similar move, linking with the SDLP.

This morning’s debates will focus on agriculture, local government, the environment, and Justice.

There will also be a motion calling for an education campaign highlighting the dangers of cannabis use, while another will call for that drug to be decriminalised.

Eamon Gilmore will deliver his first conference address as leader this evening, although it will not be televised live because Labour already had a conference earlier this year.