Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 25 Jun 2002

Vol. 553 No. 5

Written Answers. - Special Savings Incentive Scheme.

Olwyn Enright

Question:

80 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Finance the number and the annual value of commitments made by members of the public to savings under the special saving scheme; and the estimated cost to the Exchequer in each of the next five years. [14417/02]

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy)

The total value of subscriptions made to special savings incentive accounts from commencement to December 2001 was €356.6 million, with the Exchequer contribution for the same period amounting to €88.8 million – it should be noted that the Exchequer contribution is made on a month behind basis, ie the contribution for April is paid in May. The value of subscriptions for the period January to April 2002 amounted to €439.4 million with the Exchequer contribution amounting to €109 million. The number of accounts held by all qualifying savings managers at 31 December 2001 was in the region of 390,000 and at 30 April 2002 was 1,170,208. The figure for 31 December is subject to final confirmation by the Revenue Commissioners on completion of the analysis of the 2001 annual returns, which is currently in progress.

The scheme was closed to new applicants on 30 April 2002. On that basis, the estimate of the cost to the Exchequer in 2002 is €429 million; in the years from 2003 to 2005 €517 million; €446 million in 2006; and €89 million in 2007. The cost of the scheme will be reduced where participants die, withdraw from the scheme or vary their monthly contribution downwards, while the cost will rise if participants increase their monthly contribution. The estimates above assume that these variations will broadly cancel each other out.