Pension provision - Inequity takes focus off jobs crisis

DESPERATE times, and these indeed are, require desperate measures. If these measures are not fair then they can add to the sense of desperation that made the unusual measures necessary in the first place.

The levy to be retrospectively imposed on private pensions to fund job creation falls into that category. No one enjoys surrendering hard-earned money to the State but that reluctance is eased by the understanding that the burden is shared more or less equally by all citizens. This levy is not and that simple fact is at the root of a lot of the resentment it has provoked.

It is more than likely that most of those affected would not complain so loudly — or at all — if all pensions, including state pensions, were levied equally.