Current public sector pensions bill €2.5bn per year

There are currently 124,000 public sector pensioners in Ireland, or one public sector pensioner for every 2.5 people still working.

It is estimated that the public sector pension bill is costing the Exchequer more than €2.5bn every year.

The figure is likely to increase as thousands of public sector workers are expected to take early retirement before changes to the pension scheme are introduced next February.