Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 180: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the State contribution to the National Pension Reserve Fund in each of the years since its inception; the growth rate expressed in real terms of the National Pension Reserve Fund in each of the years since its inception; and the cost of administering the fund in each of these years. [23113/07]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The National Pensions Reserve Fund was established on 2 April 2001 under the provisions of the National Pensions Reserve Fund Act 2000. Section 18 of the Act provides for the payment from the Exchequer each year into the Fund of a sum equivalent to 1% of Gross National Product (GNP). Under the provisions of the Act, €6,515 million was transferred from the Temporary Holding Fund for Pensions Liabilities to the National Pensions Reserve Fund in 2001. That amount included contribution amounts equivalent to 1% of GNP for the years 1999 and 2000, along with the proceeds of the sale of Telecom Éireann.

The following table sets out (i) the amounts paid to the Fund from 2001 to 2006, (ii) the administrative expenses paid by the Fund for each of those years, (iii) the costs borne by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) as Manager of the Fund — these are charged directly on the Central Fund in accordance with section 23 of the National Pensions Reserve Fund Act — and (iv) the return on the Fund's investments as provided by the National Pensions Reserve Fund Commission in their Annual Reports, adjusted for the change in the Consumer Price Index (the Commission calculates the Fund's performance in accordance with the Global Investment Performance Standards):

The market value of the Fund at the end of June 2007 was €21,032 million.

Budget 2007 provides for the payment of €1,615,500,000 into the Fund from the Exchequer in 2007.