Sir, – I read with interest the article about the retirement package for Dermot McCarthy, secretary general to the Government (“€713,000 retirement package for top civil servant”, Front page, September 6th), and would like to point out that the value of the package is much higher than the €713,000 indicated.
The lump sum is €428,000, but the value of an annuity paying €142,670 per annum is somewhere in the region of €3.5 million (assuming that Mr McCarthy is 65 and in good health and doesn’t smoke, and that his pension is indexed to inflation). So the real value of Mr McCarthy’s retirement package is close to €4 million.
In other words, as an employee in the private sector, contributing to a defined-benefit pension plan, I would need to accumulate about €4,000,000 in my pension fund to enjoy a similar pension.
I just wanted to point out the true cost (or value) of a public service pension. – Yours, etc,