Organisational structure

The Pensions Authority is a statutory body set up under the Pensions Act.

The Authority:

• supervises compliance with the requirements of the Pensions 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 Pensions Act,
• conducts on-site inspections and compliance audits,
• instigates prosecutions and other sanctions where breaches of the Pensions 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, and
• 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.

Here is the Senior Management Team

Supervision and Enforcement – are responsible for:

• investigating suspected breaches of the Pensions 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 Pensions Act,
• oversight and processing of defined benefit scheme funding and related recovery plans,
• registering and approving PRSA products,
• approving and renewing registered administrators, and
• 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, and
• 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, and
• 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 Pensions Act, and
• 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, and
• 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, and
• 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, and
• 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, and
• overseeing corporate governance and associated policies and processes.