Construction company director fined for deduction and non remittance of pension contributions to the Construction Workers Pension Scheme in a prosecution taken by The Pensions Board

5 December 2011: Today, in the Dublin District Court, Judge John Paul McDonald imposed a fine of €7,000 on Michael Wallace, a director of M & J Wallace Ltd (In Receivership) in relation to the deduction and non-remittance of employee pension contributions within the statutory period. Legal costs of €450 were also awarded to The Pensions Board.

Michael Wallace, a director of M & J Wallace Ltd. (In Receivership) pleaded guilty to five offences relating to the following months: January 2008, February 2008, March 2008, April 2008, and May 2008. The company had deducted pension contributions from the wages and salaries of its employees for remittance to the trustees of the Construction Workers Pension Scheme (CWPS) but had failed to remit the contributions to the trustee within the statutory time frame. These offences were committed with the consent, connivance, or were attributable to the neglect on the part of Michael Wallace, a director of M & J Wallace Ltd. (In Receivership). This meant that employees working for that company were not covered for pension benefits, sick pay benefits or death in service benefits for those months.

The Pensions Board supervises occupational pension schemes and monitors employers’ compliance with the legislation relating to the collection and remittance of pension contributions.

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:

David Malone
Head of Information
The Pensions Board
Tel (01) 6131900

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.