Government under pressure to tackle ‘pensions time bomb’

The Government is facing growing pressure to tackle the “pension time bomb” as the accumulated deficit in the Social Insurance Fund increased to €10.3bn by the end of 2013.

The deficit is expected to have grown by a further €0.7bn over the course of last year despite signs of continuing economic recovery.

The 2013 accounts of the Social Insurance Fund, show expenditure on all welfare payments exceeded revenue from PRSI contributions by more than €1.3bn.