Madam, - The two articles (May 17th) regarding pensions, one from the Ictu and the other from Ibec, could well have been composed by two members of the same organisation with slightly differing emphasis. The creation of a society that is grossly skewed to further favour the money merchants is the product of those that once held views that were centred on fairness and justice galloping to the centre ground to grab a place at the trough.
What we have is a large swathe of our community floundering to survive in a brave new world controlled by the neo-con lunatic fringe.
Recent figures show that even those earning what could be considered as good incomes are finding the going tough. Obviously, looking so far ahead in those circumstances is not realistic. Both contributors failed to address the sheer cost of surviving in the Ireland of today.
And it was depressing indeed to see both agreeing on the apparent need to "incentivise" those with SSIAs through the tax system to save their gains. Money taken from the poorest handed over to the wealthiest being proposed as a solution to the problem. - Yours, etc,
JIM O'SULLIVAN,
Sligo.