Organisational structure

The Pensions Authority is a statutory body set up under the Pensions Act, 1990, as amended (the Act).

The Authority:

• supervises compliance with the requirements of the Act, by trustees of occupational pension schemes and trust RACs, Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSA) providers, Registered Administrators (RAs) and employers
• investigates suspected breaches of the Act
• conducts on-site inspections and compliance audits
• instigates prosecutions and other sanctions where breaches of the Act are found to have occurred
• provides policy advice and technical support to the work of the Minister and Department of Social Protection
• provides relevant information and guidance to the public and those involved with pensions
• deals with enquiries received from scheme members, trustees, employers, the pensions industry, the general public and the media. 

The Authority is organised as follows:

Pensions Regulator

The Pensions Regulator is the chief executive officer of the Pensions Authority.

Supervision and Enforcement – are responsible for:

• investigating suspected breaches of the Act and instigating sanctions where appropriate
• supervision and enforcement activities including on-site inspections and compliance audits designed to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Act
• oversight and processing of defined benefit scheme funding and related recovery plans
• registering and approving PRSA products
• approving and renewing Registered Administrators
• granting approval for cross-border schemes.

Technical – are responsible for:

• providing technical support and advice to the Authority
• dealing with all initial information enquiries from scheme members, trustees, employers, the pensions industry and the general public
• the content of all published guidance, whether advisory or mandatory
• contributing to and participating in EU and international pension policy issues.

Policy – are responsible for:

• designing and implementing the changes needed to give effect to the IORP II Directive and the Authority’s proposed pension reforms
• drafting governance and management standards for pension schemes
• the development of Authority processes for the ongoing oversight of regulated entities
• formulating policy advice on the development and regulation of pensions and related issues through research, consultation and preparation of working papers.

Legal – are responsible for:

• providing legal advice and support services to the Authority
• prosecuting summary offences and taking other legal sanctions under the Act
• providing secretariat services to the board of the Authority.

Data – are responsible for:

• analysis of data submitted to the Authority from regulated entities
• collating available data and information
• dealing with data queries from regulated entities.

IT – are responsible for:

• the hardware and software infrastructure that the Authority needs to carry out its work
• the development and maintenance of the Authority’s software which is used for the supervision of pensions schemes. 

Programme Management Office (PMO) – are responsible for:

• overseeing a strategic roadmap of projects for the implementation of IORP II and aspects of the Government’s pension simplification and reform agenda
• developing project and change management capability as a core organisational competence
• ensuring a standard and consistent methodology is used to plan and execute projects.

Operations – are responsible for:

• communications and delivering the Authority’s information to scheme members, trustees, employers, the pensions industry, the general public and the media
• budgeting, financial management and controls
• human resources, risk management, procurement and facilities management
• overseeing corporate governance and associated policies and processes.