Austin Deasy
Question:54 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Finance the amount of GNP which goes on paying pensions in the private and public sectors. [15639/97]
Written Answers. - Pensions Expenditure.
It is assumed that the Deputy's question refers to expenditure on occupational pension schemes in the private and public sectors.
Total expenditure on occupational pensions in the public service which excludes the commercial state companies amounted to £608 million in 1996, which was equivalent to 1.6 per cent of GNP.
I do not have any direct responsibility in respect of pensions in the private sector (other than in relation to tax matters). However an ESRI report "Occupational and Personal Pension Coverage 1995" which was prepared for the Department of Social Welfare and The Pensions Board and published in 1996 estimated that total payments for funded schemes for the year ending 1994 amounted to £461 million, i.e. approximately 1.4 per cent of GNP.