News

Proposals for amending the Pensions Acts 1990-2006 (“the Act”) in 2007

Friday 22 September 2006: The Pensions Board will attend the upcoming National Ploughing Championships in Grangeford, Tullow, Co. Carlow from 27 to 30 September to provide pensions information for visitors at this major event. A key target of the National Pensions Awareness Campaign is to build positive pensions awareness within the agricultural sector and rural communities where there are low levels of pension coverage.

Proposals for technical amendments to the Occupational Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations, 2006 (S.I. 301 of 2006)

31 August, 2006: Following representations by the Board to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in relation to claims being made, under the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) Acts, 1984-2004 (the Act), in relation to unpaid contributions to a defined contribution scheme where the employer has become insolvent, the Department has agreed to amend the requirement for an actuarial certificate to be provided (Form EIP7) before processing the claim. The waiver was granted on the basis that a claim under Section 7 of the Act will always be the amount of the unpaid contributions.

Friday 4 August 2006: The Pensions Board today announced 2nd quarter data for Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs), received from all 10 PRSA providers to the end of June 2006.

Wednesday 30 August 2006: The Pensions Board is encouraging people to start their pensions early in their working lives and is highlighting that contributing to a pension at an early age can make a significant difference in retirement.

The Pensions Board have dedicated a section on this website to cross-border schemes. Under this section you will find the relevant forms for authorisation and approval, guidelines and any recent news of frequently asked questions.

Monday 24 July 2006: The Pensions Board has today called on SSIA holders to consider investing in their pensions when their accounts come to fruition. The Board is highlighting the tax incentives in contributing to a pension. The CSO Quarterly National Household Survey 2005, highlighted that in the fourth quarter of 2005, SSIA account holders indicated that over 46% of their fund will be committed to Savings, Pensions and Investments.

A number of recent Irish cases had suggested that a statutory instrument should not be used for the purposes of implementing EU law, unless it was clear that the primary legislation included a power allowing regulations to be made to give effect to EU law. It was therefore decided in the interests of clarity to amend the Pensions Act, to state that such Regulations could be made and after that, to revoke the 2005 Regulations and replace them with the 2006 Regulations.

Friday 14 July 2006: The Pensions Board today launched its 2005 Annual Report, in the Government Press Centre, and presented a copy of the Report to the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Séamus Brennan TD, which is available on www.pensionsboard.ie .