Social Insurance.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 September 2008

Tuesday, 30 September 2008

Questions (329)

Joan Burton

Question:

441 Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the forecast receipts from PRSI contributions for 2008; the actual figures on a comparative basis for each year since 2002; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31976/08]

Written answers

Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Deputy Mary Hanafin)

Pay related social insurance (PRSI) receipts from both employers and employees form the main part of the income of the Social Insurance Fund (SIF). The fund provides insured contributors with both long-term pension benefits and short-term benefits such as jobseeker and illness payments. The receipts forecast from PRSI for 2008 is €8,249 million. The receipts from PRSI for each year from 2002 are set out in the table. The figures for 2007 are provisional.

Year	Receipts
	€m
2002	4,747
2003	5,048
2004	5,615
2005	6,110
2006	6,921
2007	7,722

The SIF was established by the Social Welfare Act 1952 (as amended). Under section 9 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, a subvention is made from the Exchequer to the extent that receipts combined with any accumulated surplus are less than the payments that arise in a given year.