Post 1995 Public Servants paid a contribution that was co-ordinated with the contrib. OAP rate. Since the 1970,s all new public servants paid 5% superannuation plus(in most cases) 1.5% Spouses & Childrens, total 6.5%. Salaries did not change for new appointees.
Based on a salary of €49,000, the pre(Class D) & post(Class A) 1995 public servants pay as follows:
Class D: Pension Contrib (6.5%) = €3,185 Plus PRSI of €1,151.50 Plus Pension Related Deduction (PRD) of €3,528....Total Pension contribution of €5,978 or 12.2% of gross pay.
Class A: Pension Contrib (1.5% of gross plus 3.5% of gross less twice cont. OAP rate of €230.30) = €7,661 Plus PRSI of €1,960 Plus PRD of €3,528 or 15.63% of gross pay.
Clearly, Class A pay more in PRSI and presumably have a little additional entitlement, optical & dental, occupational illness etc.
The above calculations look correct to me but I think you have omitted the fact that post-1995 public servants also qualify for the social welfare contributory pension.
It also ignores the fact that PRDs have only been in place for a limited number of years and we do not know whether they will continue into the future (ie they will almost certainly not be applicable throughout the relevant service period).
In any event, I dare say that most post-1995 private sector workers earning a gross salary of €49,000 per annum would be more than happy to sacrifice 11.63 per cent of their gross income, plus 4 per cent PRSI, in order to guarantee the sort of replacement income in retirement (together with the valuable benefits accruing to their spouse) that is available to public servants.
The problem of course is that the State's pension promises to workers (public and private sector) are unfunded and will become increasingly challenging to fulfil as we move through the next 40 years in the absence of major policy changes.