Mr. Robert Watt:

The accrued liability based on the report done in 2008 was €116 billion. That is the net present value of the cost of current pensioners, taking account of longevity and mortality, and then serving officers and their likely future service - accrued service.

It is a significant sum. We have discussed the review we will carry out with our colleagues in the C&AG's office to refresh the assumptions and look again at what the cost will be. A number of factors are affecting that, including longevity - we are all living longer, which is good news - which is increasing the cost. Against that we have introduced many changes, such as reducing the number of public servants and introduced the single scheme which involves clear averaging and a different approach. The figures are sensitive to assumptions about mortality, index linking - what is indexed to prices, pay levels or whatever - which will be a big factor, and future recruitment and the size of the system. The exercise is an important one and it will be interesting to see what are the results. A number of factors may push up investment; others may push it down. I have no idea what the outcome will be - we will have to wait and see.