24 February 2015: In Dublin District Court, on Thursday 19 February 2015, Judge John O’Neill convicted Avonbrook Ltd, a limited liability company with a registered address of Dartmouth House, Kylemore Road, Dublin 10 for failing to remit employee and employer pension contributions to Aviva Life and Pensions Ireland Limited on behalf of the trustee of the scheme within the statutory time limit. The Company was fined €3,000.
Avonbrook Ltd had deducted pension contributions from the salary of employees for the period March 2011 to June 2014 for remittance to Aviva Life and Pensions Ireland Limited on behalf of the trustee but had failed to remit the contributions within the statutory timeframe. They had also failed to remit the employer contributions as obliged under the scheme for the same period. However, full repayment of all outstanding contributions along with investment losses accrued in this timeframe was made prior to sentencing.
Commenting on the conviction in this case, the Pensions Regulator, Brendan Kennedy, said, “This conviction should act as a warning to all employers and company directors that the Pensions Authority treats the failure of the employer to remit pension contributions as a very serious offence. We advise any employer with outstanding pension contributions to immediately regularise their position.”
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David Malone
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The Pensions Authority
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Note to Editors
The Pensions Authority
The Pensions Authority is the statutory body established by the Pensions Act 1990 (Act) to regulate occupational pension schemes, trust based RACs and Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) and to advise the Minister for Social Protection on overall pension policy development. See www.pensionsauthority.ie
Under the Act, the Authority has power to carry out investigations into alleged breaches of the Act and to ensure that trustees, employers, pension administrators and their advisers comply with their obligations to current and former employees in relation to their pension contributions and benefits.
The Authority’s powers allow it to conduct on-site visits without notice, seize and copy relevant documents, enter dwellings on foot of a warrant, and to prosecute any person that contravenes the provisions of the Act.
