Our civil servants' pensions are top in the world
Friday February 13 2009
PUBLIC sector pensions in this country are the most generous in the world, two leading academics have concluded.
The findings are set to further inflame passions among public servants, many of whom feel victimised about the Government's new imposition of an average 7.5pc pensions levy.
But pensions for public servants in this country are more generous than elsewhere, according to academic actuaries Dr Shane Whelan and Michael Moloney, because they are State-guaranteed and often payable from the age of 60.
The other reason public sector pensions are so generous is because the pension amount received is linked to the salary level the person retired at. This means the public servant's pension rises with pay agreements and other pay rises, unlike with private sector pensions.
Interests
Dr Whelan and Mr Moloney accused ministers and civil servants, charged with looking after the nation's interests, of looking after their own interests.
"Public sector pensions -- indexed to wages, often payable from age 60, and State-guaranteed -- are the most generous in the world, exceeding that of, say, UK civil servants," they wrote in a paper for the Society of Actuaries of Ireland.
Wages in the public sector have not been properly adjusted to reflect the value of pensions, the paper says.
Dr Whelan has based much of his calculations on the 2007 Benchmarking Report, which recommended that public servants receive no pay rise.
- Charlie Weston Personal Finance Editor
