The Pensions Authority issues its regulatory activity and key statistics for 2015 and plans for 2016

Tuesday 8 March 2016: Today, the Pensions Authority issued its summary of regulatory activity and key statistics for 2015 and plans for 2016.

Commenting on the release, the Pensions Regulator, Brendan Kennedy said: “2015 was another very busy year for the Authority. The Authority’s staff undertook a wide range of supervision activity to check on the compliance of pension schemes, PRSA providers and pensions administrators with their obligations under the Pensions Act. We also expanded our programme of published model documents and codes of practice to help those affected to comply with their responsibilities and to guide them towards achieving high standards of care of pension savers’ money. 2015 was also a year of high activity for our enquiry services and our website pensionsauthority.ie, which are an impartial source of information and support for those seeking pension information.”

Reflecting on the year’s work, the Pensions Regulator commented: “Trustees of occupational pension schemes and PRSA providers have responsibility for over €90 billion of pensions savings. The focus and objective of our supervision and support work is to improve as far as possible the outcomes for pension savers.”

Specific Pensions Authority plans for 2016 include:

• a varied programme of proactive compliance activity. This will include on-site inspections of administrators, reviews of PRSA compliance, especially in the area of actuarial reporting, desk compliance audits, and checking of employer pension access provision
• resolution of the small number of defined benefit schemes whose funding position have not been resolved. This may include issuing orders for wind-up where appropriate
• a significant increase in our programme of engagement with trustees of defined benefit schemes
• further guidance for all trustees, including further codes of practice for both defined contribution and defined benefit scheme trustees and further model documents
• an updating of our website to improve navigation and make it more user-friendly
• development of pension reform proposals for submission to the Department of Social Protection.

See the Related Documents section of this page for 'Regulatory activity and 2015 statistics at a glance'.

ENDS

For further information, contact:

David Malone
Head of Operations and Communications
The Pensions Authority
Tel: (01) 613 1900

Note to Editors

The Pensions Authority is the statutory body established by the Pensions Act, 1990 to regulate occupational pension schemes, trust based RACs and Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs).