The State's largest insurance group has called on the Government to introduce tax incentives for long-term savings as an anti-inflationary measure.
In a pre-Budget proposal, Hibernian Group's chief executive, Mr Pat McGorrian, urged the Government to examine means of encouraging individuals to make greater provision for long-term savings by reducing taxation to 12.5 per cent from 22 per cent.
"It's economic nonsense for the long-term savings rate to be higher than capital gains tax."
Mr McGorrian said inflation would remain a problem following an expansionary Budget and that a preferential tax rate for long-term savings plans would act as a non-distorting anti-inflationary measure.
The Hibernian Group is a result of the merger of CGU and Norwich Union in the UK, which led to the merger of Hibernian, Norwich Union and CGU in the Irish market. The new group is part of CGNU and also includes the non-life business of Friends First, which it acquired in June.
The newly-merged group introduced its corporate identity and unified product range to the market yesterday. The integration of the businesses has continued since the Hibernian and Norwich Union merger was announced last February but until now it has been business as usual for both companies. A new product range has been developed for the group's three core divisions, life and pensions, general insurance and investment management. Hibernian Group has 26 per cent of the general insurance market in Ireland and is expected to have a combined net premium income of £1 billion (€1.27 billion) in the Irish market this year.
On the subject of e-commerce Mr Vincent Sheridan, deputy chief executive of Hibernian, said the group wanted to get into partnership with brokers.
Mr Sheridan said the Hibernian general insurance focus would concentrate on personal and small to medium-sized enterprise sectors. Unsurprisingly, the group favours more compulsion in the personal pensions area. Mr Grant Barrans, managing director of Life and Pensions, cited the Australian example whereby anyone who did not take out a pension policy paid more tax.
