Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 7:

In page 6, before section 2, to insert the following new section:

"2.—The Minister shall lay before each House of the Oireachtas the annual cost on an actuarial basis of the total pension liability in each Government Department and specify the actuarial costs as a percentage of pay in each major category and grade within each department.".

It is important that the context of this payment is widely understood. There has been a great lack of understanding or knowledge of the true cost of public service pensions and it would be useful in this context to have this information clearly stated.

Indeed, Departments ought to be more cognisant of the pension implications of decisions when they take them. It is a fair criticism of Government accounts generally that they fail to take into account the pension obligations that they incur, just as they fail to take into account the true cost of capital which they use. We should, over time, move towards a system of budgeting that shows those true costs, which the taxpayer must furnish.

Showing the actuarial costs of different categories of employee would be important also because the pension levy we are considering is probably not fairly graded in accord with the benefits that accrue from public service pensions. If this was being reviewed in a year or two when there still were emergency conditions, people would expect that it would be graded more clearly in accordance with people's benefit from pension and ability to pay.

It would be useful to have this information laid before the House, perhaps with the Minister's review and perhaps even in the Estimate volumes or the annual reports Departments provide to the Oireachtas, so that we could have a clearer picture of what is going on.

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