Much of the information requested by the Deputy is not available. However, in order to give an indication of the position, such estimates that are available are used in the following together with published statistics. Fees received from occupational pension schemes and providers of Personal Retirement Savings Accounts largely finance the Pensions Board. Details of the expenditure incurred by the Board together with its income from fees in each of the last three years is set out as follows:
Year
|
Expenditure
|
Fees from Occupational Pension Schemes
|
Fees from providers of Personal Retirement Savings Accounts*
|
|
€m
|
€m
|
€m
|
2003
|
4.5
|
3.95
|
0.130
|
2004
|
5.0
|
4.10
|
0.205
|
2005
|
5.6
|
4.10
|
0.341
|
* The figure provided relates to fees relevant to the year in question but not necessarily received in that year.
The remainder of the income of the Board includes payment from the Department to cover the cost of the National Pensions Awareness Campaign, sale of publications and a temporary subvention in respect of the costs of developing and regulating PRSAs. The last mentioned was put in place to cover costs pending the development of an adequate PRSA fee base.
The Pensions Board does not maintain statistics on the assets of occupational pension schemes or contributions made to such schemes. However, the Irish Association of Pension Funds in its Asset Allocation Survey 2005 estimated that at year end the volume of assets under management was €77.9 billion.
With regard to contributions to schemes, work undertaken in connection with the National Pensions Review, published in January this year, estimated that in 2006 contributions to defined benefit and defined contribution schemes by employers and employees would amount to about €4.3 billion. At this stage, the Pensions Board is estimating total expenditure for 2006 at about €5.7 million and this represents about 0.1% of estimated contributions to schemes.
There is no recent information available on the fees and administration charges incurred by pension schemes. With regard to the cost of tax forgone on pension contributions, this information is provided for the three income tax years 2001 to 2003, the latest year for which it is available.
Cost of Income Tax relief relating to pension contributions
Type of Pension Contributions
|
2001
|
2002
|
2003
|
|
€ million
|
€ million
|
€ million
|
Employees’ Contributions to approved Superannuation Schemes
|
389
|
563
|
622
|
Employers’ Contributions to approved Superannuation Schemes
|
498
|
623
|
564
|
Exemption of Net Income of approved Superannuation Funds (Contributions plus Investment Income less Outgoings)
|
938
|
1,272
|
1,434
|
Retirement Annuity Contracts (RACs)
|
185
|
251
|
264
|
Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs)*
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
6
|
Total
|
2,010
|
2,709
|
2,809
|
*Figures for PRSAs reflect the relative early stage of the scheme which was introduced in 2002.
It should be noted in relation to the tax year 2001, that as PAYE taxpayers were charged to tax on their earnings in the period from 6 April to 31 December 2001 and self-employed taxpayers were assessed to tax for that short year on 74% of the profits earned in a 12 month accounting period, the cost figures will not be directly comparable with those of later years. It should also be noted that these costs are tentative and that efforts are being made to improve information on the cost of tax relief for pensions.