Construction company director receives 18 month suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty in prosecution taken by The Pensions Board
16 May 2013: Yesterday, in Dublin District Court on Wednesday 15 May 2013, Judge William Early convicted and imposed an 18 month prison sentence on Colm McNulty, director of Limestone Construction Limited (in Liquidation), with an address at Kilreesk Lane, St Margaret’s, Dublin for failing to remit employee pension contributions to the trustee of the Construction Workers Pension Scheme (CWPS) within the statutory time limit. The Judge suspended the sentence for a period of 18 months.
In 2008, a bench warrant was issued for the arrest of Mr McNulty as there was no appearance by the Accused when the matter was first listed in Court. On 13 February 2013, Colm McNulty appeared in Dublin District Court, having voluntarily surrendered himself after being arrested in Manchester in December 2012 on foot of a European Arrest Warrant. Mr McNulty pleaded guilty to the offence.
Limestone Construction Limited (in Liquidation) had deducted €41,157 in pension contributions from the wages and salaries of its employees from July 2006 to September 2007 for remittance to the trustee of 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 Colm McNulty, as a director of the company during the relevant period.
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 Operations
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.