Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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160. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if actuaries have been appointed to date to carry out the actuarial review of the Social Insurance Fund up to 31 December 2015 announced by the previous Minister on 22 March 2016; if appointed, whether he can supply details of the company carrying out the work and the date of publication; to undertake to produce actuarial reports on the fund on a more frequent basis, for example, every three years rather than the statutory maximum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27666/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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As Minister for Social Protection, I am required under legislation to carry out actuarial reviews of the financial position of the Social Insurance Fund “for the purpose of determining the extent to which the Fund may be expected, in the long term, to meet the demands in respect of payment of benefits and other payments, having regard, in particular, to the adequacy or otherwise of the contributions to support benefits and other payments”. The review may also cover other matters considered to be relevant as affecting the current and future financial condition of the Fund.

The Actuarial Review must be carried out at 5 yearly intervals and completed not later than 5 years after the date of completion of the immediately preceding review. The last actuarial review set out the position of the SIF for the year ending 31 December 2010 and was published in September 2012. The next review will relate to position of the SIF for the year ending 31 December 2015.

My department is currently in the process of finalising the request for tender to be advertised on the eTenders procurement website, to secure the most suitable actuaries to carry out the actuarial review.

The purpose of the actuarial reviews of the SIF is to assess the financial “health” of the Fund, taking account of changes in the intervening period, including changes in demographic and economic factors. Undertaking SIF actuarial reviews at 5 yearly intervals, as opposed to on a more frequent basis such as every 3 years, allows sufficient time for the impact of these changes to be assessed and incorporated into the long-term projections of the adequacy or otherwise of the contributions paid into the Fund to support benefits and other payments from it.