The Pensions Board has successfully prosecuted trustees of five occupational pension schemes over the failure to provide timely information on their operation to the board.
The cases are the first taken by the board using its powers under section 54 of the Pensions Act, which enables it to require that information is provided by trustees within a specified period of time.
The convictions took place in Dublin District Court on November 23rd and 29th and fines were levied in each case ranging between £250 and £1500. Under the Pensions Act, the maximum fine allowed is £1,500. The Pensions Board was also awarded costs ranging from £1,000 to £3,000 in each case.
Four of the convicted trustees were schemes administered by employers: Fenelon Engineering Group Ltd Retirement Plan; D. O'Sullivan & Company (Cork) Retirement and Death Benefit scheme; Leslie Reynolds & Company Ltd Retirement Plus Plan, and Briody & Company Ltd Executive Pensions Scheme.
The fifth scheme, Kylemore Bakery Ltd Executive Pension and Life Assurance Scheme, was administered by professional pensions consultation company European Pensioneer Trustee Company Ltd.
All the schemes' trustees provided the requested information prior to the district court case but were prosecuted because they failed to respond within the period specified by the Pensions Board, said a spokeswoman.
Commenting on the prosecutions, the chief executive of the Pensions Board, Ms Anne Maher, said: "Disclosure of information enables members, trade unions and other representatives to monitor the benefits and the health of their pension scheme.
If the people with responsibility for pension schemes (ie: the trustees) are not prepared to respond to the board's compliance monitoring of information disclosure, then it would be impossible for the board to ensure that the requirements for pension scheme members are being met."
There is no reason for members of these pension schemes to panic, says a Pensions Board spokeswoman. "In fairness, it's not any indication that the schemes are not being properly administered. Those trustees failed to respond to the board's request for information."
