Shortall hits out at pension tax breaks

Former junior minister Róisín Shortall has questioned if Labour leader Eamon Gilmore, Enda Kenny, and two senior ministers have kept generous tax breaks for pensions in place for their own gain.

She said Labour had promised to address tax relief for high pensions, which could have saved €400m, but the party instead chose to hit hard-pressed families. “You have flunked it, Tánaiste, in a very serious way,” she said, directly addressing Mr Gilmore in the Dáil.

Ms Shortall, who lost the party whip following her resignation as junior health minister in September, said the tax relief regime for pensions was “unbelievably generous” and “extremely regressive”.