Executive pension contributions up to 36 times higher

SOME of the country’s top earners’ pension fund contributions are 36 times higher than the average contribution for other employees, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has revealed.

The ESRI found the difference after it examined the average pension policy for an executive director at a public limited company and that of ordinary employees.

Speaking at a conference on the subject held in Dublin, Prof Gerard Hughes, a senior member of Trinity College’s pensions policy unit, said the discrepancy is damaging ordinary people’s view of pension plans.