Parliamentary Question addressed to the Minister for Finance

To ask the Minister for Finance the reason the early access to pension funds as announced in Budget 2013 is limited insofar as it applied only to funded additional voluntary contributions; if he will consider including personal pensions; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Reply

Minister for Finance ( Michael Noonan) :

In my Budget 2013 speech, I announced that I would make provision in Finance Bill 2013 for persons making Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) used to supplement their main scheme retirement benefits to withdraw up to 30% of the value of those contributions. Any amounts withdrawn will be subject to tax at the individual’s marginal rate. The option will be available for 3 years from the passing of the Finance Bill.

This is a restricted measure which will enable rather than incentivize certain individuals to access part of their pension savings beyond their regular or compulsory pension contributions. I do not wish to damage future pension provision and it is important that individuals continue to provide for their retirement. For these reasons, I have no plans to extend the measure beyond AVCs.