Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 February 2012
158 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Finance the number of public sector workers currently required to make payments under both the pension related deduction for their public pensions and the pension fund levy in respect of any interest they may have in a funded pension scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9316/12]
View answerNot all of the information sought by the Deputy is available. This is because members of pension schemes are not charged with paying the 0.6% stamp duty levy on pension fund assets which was introduced last year. The levy is a charge on the trustees of pension schemes and on the insurers and administrators who manage the assets of pension schemes and it is they who are liable to pay the levy. It is up to those trustees and administrators to decide in each case whether and how the levy should be passed on and who should be impacted and to what extent, given the particular circumstances of the pension funds or pension plans for which they are responsible. I have no general information on the decisions taken by trustees and administrators in this regard.
With regard to the numbers of public servants paying the pension-related deduction (PRD) which was first introduced in March 2009, I am advised by my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform that the latest figure for the number of whole-time equivalent public servants is 296,870. The vast majority of these would be members of public service pension schemes and would be liable for the PRD.
