Firm ordered to pay into pension scheme

A COURT yesterday gave Offaly builder Donal Rigney and his company until next June to pay €58,000 due to the Construction Workers’ Pension Scheme.

In the second such case this week, building company, Donal Rigney Ltd and its directors, Mr Rigney and Margaret Murray, appeared in Tullamore District Court yesterday for failing to pay over workers’ pension contributions to the industry’s retirement scheme.

The money was deducted from workers’ wages, but never actually paid over to the pension scheme.

The court heard yesterday that the company and its directors agreed on Tuesday with the Pensions Board to pay over the €58,375.72 due to the fund by June 27th, 2012.

The judge gave the firm and the directors until this date to pay the money to the fund.

The Construction Industry Monitoring Agency, which supervises the industry’s pension scheme, discovered the shortfall in Donal Rigney Ltd’s contributions earlier this year. Mr Rigney, of Mount Bolus, Tullamore, Co Offaly, was jailed for contempt of the High Court for a short period last year for failing to comply with an order to hand over building machinery worth €2 million to finance company Lombard Ireland.

The Construction Workers’ Pension Scheme is an industry-wide fund. All employers in the sectors are legally obliged to deduct contributions from building workers and pay it into the scheme.

Earlier this week, a court jailed Damian and Francis Goff, directors of Wexford building company, Goff Developments, for five months for failing to pay €11,781.51 in staff contributions to the fund.

The Pensions Board brought the case against the company and its directors.