Women who are members of defined-contribution pension schemes or who hold personal retirement savings accounts (PRSAs) will receive a lower retirement income than men who put the same amount of money into their pension funds.

Because women live longer than men, insurance companies require them to spread their pension funds over a longer period.

Figures from Mercer show that a woman who buys an annuity with a pension fund of €50,000 at aged 65 will receive a monthly retirement income that is almost 20 per cent lower than a man's in the same situation.

The most competitive annual annuity for the woman is €3,485, compared to €3,836 for the man.

This means the man will receive a monthly pension of €318.25, but the woman will get just €256.08.

The figures are based on single life annuities with a guaranteed period of five years and no provision for a spouse's pension or escalation on payments.

The European Commission has suggested banning gender discrimination in insurance pricing, which would mean women would have to pay more for motor and life assurance but would also receive a better pension.

Such a move is strongly opposed by the insurance industry, which argues that male retirees should not have to cross-subsidise women.

In fact, Mr Paul McDonnell, regulation and planning manager for the Irish Insurance Federation, has argued that it would result in the withdrawal of large numbers of men from the pensions market.

Others point out that gender is far from being the only influence on life expectancy and that other factors such as health should be taken into account.

There is already a limited market for impaired life annuities, where people in poor health may receive higher pensions over an anticipated shorter period.

Hibernian Life & Pensions is the only company currently in this market in the Republic.

For the moment, however, the increasing trend for employers to offer defined-contribution schemes is adversely affecting women to a greater extent.

While women who are members of old-style defined-benefit pension schemes may receive much lower pensions than male members, this is because they are more likely to have been paid less and taken more career breaks.

By law, men and women must be treated equally under the terms of defined-benefit schemes.

PRSA holders will be able to avoid the annuity trap by investing in an approved retirement fund (ARF).

This option is only open to defined-contribution scheme members' additional voluntary contributions (AVCs).

But even if the ARF option is extended, women will still be at greater risk of exhausting their fund before they die.