Construction company convicted for deduction and non-remittance of employee pension contributions to the Construction Workers Pension Scheme
Wednesday 8 February, 2012: In Baltinglass District Court yesterday on Tuesday 7 February 2012, Judge Connellan convicted and imposed fines totalling €1,500 on T. Duffy Plant Hire Limited, a limited liability company with a registered address at Slievecorragh House, Hollywood, Co. Wicklow, for failing to remit employee pension contributions to the trustees of the Construction Workers Pension Scheme (CWPS) within the statutory time limit, and for failing to comply with a statutory request made by The Pensions Board.
T. Duffy Plant Hire Limited had deducted pension contributions from the wages and salaries of its employees in the months of October 2008, November 2008, May 2009, June 2009, and August 2009 for remittance to the trustees of CWPS but had failed to remit the contributions to the trustees within the statutory time frame.
Commenting on the conviction in this case, the Chief Executive of The Pensions Board, Mr. Brendan Kennedy, said, “This conviction should act as a warning to all employers and company directors that The Pensions Board treats the failure of the employer to remit pension contributions to the trustees of the pension scheme as a very serious offence. We advise any employer with outstanding pension contributions to immediately contact the pension scheme to regularise their position.”
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For further information, contact:
David Malone
Head of Information
The Pensions Board
Tel: (01) 613 1900
Note to Editors
The Pensions Board
The Pensions Board is the statutory body established by The Pensions Act 1990 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.pensionsboard.ie
Under the Act, the Board has power to investigate the state and conduct of Irish pension schemes, and to ensure that trustees, employers, pension administrators and their advisers comply with the obligations they owe to current and former employees in relation to their pension contributions and benefits.
The Board’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 and or sue any person that contravenes the provisions of the Act.
The Construction Workers Pension Scheme (CWPS)
CWPS is an occupational pension scheme approved by the Revenue Commissioners and registered with The Pensions Board. It was established pursuant to a Registered Employment Agreement (“REA”) on Construction Industry Pensions, Assurance and Sick Pay, which is registered by the Labour Court and was concluded between employers and employee organisations operating in the construction industry.
Under the REA, all employers operating in the construction industry are required to become a party to an approved contributory pension scheme to provide pension and death-in-service benefits to employees. These obligations are discharged by deducting pension contributions from their employees and remitting them to CWPS or another appropriate scheme.