The social insurance fund is central to the provision of social welfare services and to the economic and social life of the country. The fund provides for the pensions of an earlier generation of contributors and also for benefits to people who are affected by a range of contingencies such as illness or unemployment. The social insurance fund is the primary method of funding social welfare pensions and contributory pension expenditure represents approximately 69 per cent of the total expenditure from the fund. I am fully committed to safeguarding the long-term security of the fund and, in recognition of the importance of the pensions area generally, a number of important developments have already taken place.
The actuarial review of social welfare pensions, which I launched in September 1997, covers the period from 1996 to 2056. This report is a major contribution to the debate regarding future social welfare pension provision. While the report concludes that the funding provision in respect of pensions, given current contribution levels, is relatively stable for the next 20 years, it also shows that the position thereafter, when a large increase in the number of older people is projected, is more serious. Following the report, a provision was introduced in the Social Welfare Act, 1998, so as to enable similar actuarial reviews to be carried out every five years. These reviews will play a key role in monitoring future growth in the elderly population and the associated pension funding implications.