Departing HSE staff received over €111m in lump sum pension payments last year

This was a 6% increase on the €104m paid out in 2016.

The figures show that the consultant psychiatrist who worked with adults with learning disabilities in the HSE Dublin North East (DNE) region was one of four consultants to receive lump sum pay-offs in excess of €300,000.

The others were a consultant physician in the HSE Dublin Mid Leinster (DML) region who received €350,471; a consultant general physician in the HSE West who received €323,878 and a consultant psychiatrist in the Psychiatry of old age in HSE West who received €310,743

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A further 16 consultants received pension payments of between €200,000 and €300,000 with 174 receiving lump sums between €100,000 and €200,000.

The top 25 consultants shared a lump sum pay-pot of €6.5m - or an average of €261,000 each.

The annual payout by the HSE in pensions - lump sums and annual pensions payments - is a major - and increasing cost -to the tax-payer.

The HSE employees would have paid into their pensions during their careers with the health service but the HSE’s pension liability over the next 10 years alone runs into the billions.

Fianna Fáil Health spokesman, Billy Kelleher TD yesterday stated that the Government must ensure that the funding of the HSE’s growing pension liability doesn’t impact on day to day services.

He said: “There will be further pressure on funding pensions across the broad public service and the funding of pensions is a massive challenge for the State and puts huge stress on the public finances.”

Deputy Kelleher said that the workers receiving the pensions have paid into the pensions and paid a pension level “and there are contractual obligations to pay those pensions”.

The amount paid out in lump sums has been steadily increasing since 2013 and has gone up by 56% from €71m in 2013 to €111m last year.

This has contributed to the HSE’s pension bill reaching over €600m in 2015 and 2016.

In 2016, the HSE paid out €656m in pensions between lump sums and continuing pension payments and this followed a pensions payout of €624m in 2015.

The 2016 payout is a 16% or €90m increase on the €566m paid out in 2013.

The pension lump sum payouts are down on the €174.85 million paid out in 2012 and the €136.8m paid out in 2011 when there was a major exodus from the HSE following incentives put in place by Government.

A note attached to the latest accounts by the HSE states that the executive is funded by the Dept of Health “on a pay as you go basis” for the payment of pensions.

The note states that no formal actuarial valuations of the HSE’s pension liabilities are carried out and that pension payments are paid out of current income.

The first €200,000 in lump sum payments is tax-free.

Amounts in excess of this tax free limit are subject to tax in two stages - except for specified exclusions. The portion between €200,000 and €575,000 is taxed at the standard rate on 20% while any portion above that is taxed at the individuals' marginal rate of tax.