GPs May Need to Retire Later

	Ireland's Association of General Practitioners

GPs May Need to Retire Later

GPs may need to retire later and should be allowed to top up their GMS pension with voluntary contributions to counter a potential pensions 'time bomb', an actuary with the GMS pension plan has warned.

A persons deficit may await GPs depending on the GMS Superannuation Plan, partially because pensionable earnings are too low, said Mr William Bell, Actuary, GMS Superannuation Plan.

He said pensionable earnings had 'declined quite significantly' over the last decade - from around £35 million to £20.5 million while at the same time life expectancy had been increasingly steadily.

He said the future almost represented a 'demographic time bomb' and said "the solution we should be looking at is getting contributions for the capitation (GMS) income as well as the non-capitation income".

He said additional voluntary contributions (AVCs) were not allowed in the GMS pension. "In ordinary schemes, you can make a voluntary contribution and employers can make a substantia contribution," Mr Bell told the AGM.

"It is an anomaly that needs to be addressed, the fact that you cannot make an additional contribution to the GMS plan," he said, adding the pension trustees were pursuing the issue with 'limited success'.

He added the IMOs was also pursuing the matte, and said he was certain the AGP would be able to lobby for this change. Mr Bell said another other option available to GPs was retiring a few years later.