Sir, – Martin Fitzpatrick’s letter of August 11th will strike a chord with many of your readers. This inexplicable levy of €600 million on private pension funds was imposed against the backdrop of the decimation of such funds following the crash of stockmarkets in 2008. I wrote to Mr Bruton and my local TD at that time and, unsurprisingly, did not receive even an acknowledgment. It seems that there are no votes in private pensions. This annual levy was supposed to be for a duration of four years but was, with typical cynicism, extended indefinitely by Mr Noonan.
There is no such levy on public service pensions, because there is no fund to levy. If private sector criteria were applied, contributions in excess of 30 per cent of salaries would be required. Future liabilities would exceed €100 billion.
Public sector workers cannot be blamed for seeking a reversal of the cuts imposed on them, but I am sure they are reasonable enough to appreciate the plight of private sector workers, half of whom have no pension at all.
Mr Howlin’s recent utterances on the possible reversal of cuts in public sector benefits and the easing of the tax burden should be treated with contempt. It will take a lot more than tokenism to assuage public anger at the crushing burden of taxation, levies and charges imposed by this administration. If the local election results have been a wake-up call for the Government, they are just a foretaste of what is coming. Your correspondent will have plenty of company in the long grass. – Yours, etc,
JOHN WHELAN,
Seaview Park,
Shankill,
Dublin 18