17 Sep 2012, 13:00
The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection meets this Thursday with officials from the Department of Social Protection to discuss the sustainability of the State's social protection system.
The Social Insurance Fund is a pay-as-you-go social insurance scheme that is financed by PRSI contributions from employees, employers, the self-employed and, when a deficit in the fund exists, by a contribution from the Exchequer. Actuarial reviews of the Fund are undertaken every five years.
The Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund 2010 covers the 55 year period from 2011 to 2066 and predicts that the provisional 2011 deficit of €1.5bn will double to €3.0bn by 2019 and will have increased to €25.7bn by 2066, in the absence of any action to tackle the shortfall. The Review states that the main driver of these increases is pension related expenditure, which can be attributed to the projected ageing of the population over the next 55 years.
The Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton TD presented Chair of the Committee Joanna Tuffy TD with a copy of the Review today Monday 17 September on the plinth in Leinster House.
Deputy Tuffy TD says: “The Committee looks forward carefully considering a report that analyses current and future challenges in maintaining our social protection system. In July, the Minister for Social Protection expressed her concern about the current deficit in the Fund and her intention to reform the system of social protection. On Thursday, Committee Members will contribute their views on how the Fund can be placed a sounder financial footing in the immediate future. Members will also have an opportunity to raise the challenges outlined in the report with Minister Burton when she briefs our Committee on Budget 2013 at the end of the month.
“While the current shortfall in the system is considerable, the review points to even starker challenges to the Fund’s sustainability in the coming decades. People are living longer and healthier lives and that is a good thing. In Ireland, as elsewhere in the developed world, welfare systems will come under increasing pressure with ageing populations. Increased pensions expenditure is the main driver in the increase in the government subvention projected to 2066.
“While the report does caution that long term projections by their nature are unlikely to be borne out in practice, it is clear that actions are required. The engagement with the Department Officials gives our Committee an opportunity to gauge the scale of the challenge in maintaining an equitable and balanced welfare system well in the coming decades.”
The meeting takes place on Thursday 20 September at 10 a.m. in Committee Room 3, Leinster House 2000.
Committee proceedings can be viewed online via this link.
For further information please contact:
Paul Hand,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +353 1 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
Committee Membership
Deputies:
James Bannon, Fine Gael
Ray Butler, Fine Gael
Áine Collins, Fine Gael
Joan Collins, People Before Profit
Seán Crowe, Sinn Féin
Clare Daly, Socialist Party
Simon Harris, Fine Gael
Charlie McConalogue, Fianna Fáil
Nicky McFadden, Fine Gael
Mary Mitchell O’Connor, Fine Gael
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, Labour Party (Vice Chair)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh, Sinn Féin
Willie O’Dea, Fianna Fáil
Brendan Ryan, Labour Party
Joanna Tuffy, Labour Party (Chair)
Senators:
Jim D’Arcy
Fidelma Healy Eames
Marie Moloney
Marie Louise O’Donnell
Averil Power
Diarmuid Wilson