THE ECONOMIC and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has posted an actuarial loss of almost €3 million on its pension scheme for the year to the end of December last.
According to accounts filed with the Companies Registration Office, the ESRI recorded an excess of €349,715 for 2008.
The institute received a once-off capital grant in 2008 of €2 million from the Department of Finance to assist it in the cost of moving to its current premises on Whitaker Square, Dublin, in early 2007.
In 2008, the ESRI received grant aid worth €3.5 million, an increase of €200,000 on the previous year due to public-sector wage increases during the year in question.
The institute decreased the overall number of staff which it employs from 127 in 2007 to 120 in 2008. This figure does not include staff employed on short-term contracts for interviewing purposes. However, the number of permanent staff actually rose from 88 in 2007 to 94 in 2008.
The majority of the company’s earnings came from commissioned research and research grants totalling almost €12 million.
The main source of the company’s research income comes from research carried out for Government agencies and partners, as well as the European Commission.
