Government has been accused of carrying out a ?smash and grab? raid to award large salary increases to Ministers and only then stopping to consider the impact on the public purse.

And Shadow Finance Minister Pat Gordon-Pamplin claimed yesterday that the amount taxpayers may need to chip in to ensure the MPs pension plan does not collapse as a consequence of the pay raises, has not been assessed by Government.

Extra taxpayer?s dollars were already needed to prevent the MPs? pension plan fund from drying up in future years, but that will be even more the case if proposed salary increases for MPs currently passing through Parliament are approved, she said.

Already under strain with a shortfall of $4.9m the Legislature Pension Fund is to be assessed by risk assessment and trouble-shooting experts to see what remedies can be found.

Finance Minister Paula Cox has revealed an up-to-the-minute status report of the politicians? pension fund has been commissioned and it will specifically look at the probable impact of MPs being giving inflation-busting rises as have been agreed by the House of Assembly.

Under the proposals, which are still to be approved by the Senate, Premier Alex Scott?s annual pay packet would increase 80 percent to $200,000, full-time ministers would collect $150,000, with their part-time counterparts paid $100,000, up from $78,856 now.

The Fund?s ?unfunded liability? stood at $4.9 million when last reviewed in 2004 ? that is money for benefits to be paid out in future years but not covered by assets currently in the fund.

What will happen if and when politicians? salaries increase again is a concern that has prompted Ms Cox to call for the new study.

But the manner in which this was announced, through a press statement last Friday rather than a Ministerial Statement that could be scrutinised by Opposition MPs has been criticised by Shadow Finance Minister Pat Gordon-Pamplin.

She said: ?Why would the government not put such a study in place before awarding themselves such massive increases? Smash and grab now, and wait for the fall-out that the taxpayers would have to bear.

?That approach can hardly support the claim that this is a Government concerned about a Social agenda,? Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin said.

Announcing the new study, Ms Cox explained: ?An actuary study is being commissioned to consider a funding policy for the Fund going forward in order to assess the impact that the proposed salary increases for members of the legislature will have on the Fund.?

The pension plan was established in 1975 but was paid out of the main Government cash pot ? the Consolidated Fund ? until a separate investment fund was set up in 1988.

Ms Cox said the Fund?s short-term cash flow is positive, currently taking in $250,000 a year in contributions over and above what is being paid out in pensions, with $7.7m in the Fund compared to the $310,000 currently being paid out.

However, over time that positive figure will deteriorate that is why there is a need to know how much more money from the public purse and from the members of the legislature contributions will need to be paid in to the pension plan to ensure it does not dry up in future years.

?Currently members are contributing a total of 12.5 percent of their salaries and the Government is matching this contribution,? said Ms Cox, referring to the actuarial valuation 2004 report of the fund tabled with the House of Assembly last Friday.

?The report highlights the current level of contributions may be insufficient to maintain the current funding level, and under the current funding arrangements the funded status of the Fund is expected to deteriorate.?

She added: ?A funding policy will be formulated in a manner which is responsible and fair to both the members of the legislature and Bermuda?s tax payers.?

But Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin is unimpressed, she saying: ?The Government?s promise that it is ?going to monitor the impact on the fund? and ?the contributions may not be adequate? seems to be putting the cart before the horse.

?How can this Government ? in all good conscience ? look at any taxpayer in the eye and say ?I am getting my big increases in pay, so good luck to you as you will have to pay for it when it?s retirement time, ?cause I?m getting mine???