BALANCING PENSION THRESHOLDS
Only 13% of employers believe the Government can tackle Ireland’s pension problems, according to a report of a recent survey in The Sunday Business Post.
The survey of employers and company executives conducted by IFG Corporate Pensions and the legal firm of Eversheds O’Donnell Sweeney found few respondents holding their breaths on pension reform. Employers were particularly concerned about the inequity between public and private sector pension provisions.
“Over 90% of respondents believe private and public sector pension savers are unfairly segregated from a taxation legislative perspective,” said Gary Owens, chief executive of IFG Ireland.
Owens said most of those surveyed believed differences in pension benefits and tax treatment for public and private sector pensions were “artificially maintained to favour senior public sector executives and public representatives”.
Around 79% of employers said pension fund thresholds should be applied across the board regardless of sector and a similar number believed the current regime was a disincentive to savers. Around 66% wanted the Government to reverse the decisions on limiting reliefs on pension contribution introduced by the previous government.