Private pension levy: We need a minister for pensions

Though the announcement of what water charges will cost individuals or families dominated the headlines yesterday, a tax that will collect far more money, and from just one section of society, fell due this week.

This year alone the private sector pension levy will take an estimated €700m from pension schemes already struggling to meet their obligations to members, many of whom will get pensions far, far smaller than they had anticipated.

Introduced as a temporary measure in 2011, by the time the scheme ends next year — if the Government honours its promises to close it and that prospect remains an open question — private sector pension savers will have paid around €2.3bn in what seems an entirely unfair levy.