The National Pensions Reserve Fund was established in April 2001 to meet as much as possible of the costs of Ireland's social welfare and public service pensions from 2025 onwards, when these costs are projected to increase dramatically due to the ageing of the population. The Fund is controlled and managed by the National Pensions Reserve Fund Commission. The Commission's functions include the determination and implementation of the Fund's investment strategy in accordance with its statutory investment policy. This policy requires that the Fund be invested so as to secure the optimal total financial return provided the level of risk is acceptable to the Commission.(source: NPRF Home Page)
Then after they make a mess out of protecting your current financial welfare, they threaten your future welfare to compensate for their screw-ups.
In the first six months of 2011, the Government liquidated €10bn worth of National Pension Reserve Fund assets in order to contribute money to the EU/IMF bailout package.(source: Business Leadership News)
Including this €10bn set aside for the support programme, the total fund size at the end of June was €20.8bn. This also comprises of the discretionary fund and directed portfolio, as well as bank investments of €5.5bn.
The discretionary fund has now been reduced in size to €5.3bn as a result of the liquidation of assets, according to the quarterly portfolio and performance update published today.
Including shares held in Bank of Ireland and AIB, the directed portfolio is worth €15.5bn.
If you're thinking, "That's ridiculous, that would never happen here" you must be twelve years old.
