I'd agree, it's a relatively small group of people that this would impact. And in all likelihood, if some has amassed that kind of pension fund by early 50's then they are likely to have a lot of wealth outside of the pension too.
But in the hypothetical scenario, is retiring part of the pension the solution for the few that may hit the SFT in their early 50's?
For example, if someone at 50 has a pot of €1m and they have no desire to retire but will move jobs, should they retire the fund and convert it to an ARF?
Does this give them scope to contribute another €1m in contributions instead of the growth in the original fund "eating up" the remaining threshold?