Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

Substantial liabilities are incurred by the State when people are recruited into a new service, but this never shows up in any assessment. We should build that liability into decisions to recruit so that if, for example, a 15% or 20% pension liability is implied, the agency making the decision recognises the cost.

Similarly, while I do not want to return to the political arena, when we decide to give increases of, for example, €30,000 to senior public servants or Ministers, that represents a pension increase of €16,000 to €18,000. The actuarial cost of purchasing that in the marketplace is massive. I do not believe any serious thought is given to the true costs of these packages when they are blithely approved. The increases have significant implications for the Exchequer and, regardless of whether the decisions are correct, they at least need to be clear and transparent.

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