Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

I am relying on memory when it comes to local authorities, but there is a distinction. Pensions are normally paid on a pay-as-you-go basis; no fund is created. In the past, local authorities retained pension deductions from employees and this would have formed part of their general funding. Since the introduction of the public sector single pension scheme in 2013, however, the deductions are being taken in centrally.