Disclosure
Pensions Act
54.
Disclosure of information in relation to schemes.
(1) The actuary to, or the trustees or registered administrator of, a scheme or a trust RAC or any employer to whom a scheme relates shall furnish such information to such persons in such circumstances and within such time limits as may be prescribed in relation to the following, that is to say:
(a) the constitution and status of the scheme or trust RAC;
(b) the administration and finances of the scheme or trust RAC, including any commission, charge, expense or remuneration paid or received in connection with the scheme or trust RAC;
(ba) compliance with sections 59(1) (ca) and 59AA;
(c) the rights and obligations that arise or may arise under the scheme or trust RAC; (ca) the actuarial work within the meaning of section 51A(5) in relation to the scheme or
regulatory own funds trust RAC, including but not necessarily limited to documents, data and advice, relating to the documents referred to in section 51A(5),
(d) such other matters as may be prescribed which appear to the Minister to be relevant to—
(i) schemes of a particular description to which the scheme belongs, or
(ii) trust RACs of a particular description to which the trust RAC belongs.
(2) For the purposes of facilitating the discharge by the trustees of a scheme or trust RAC (other than a small trust RAC which is not a regulatory own funds trust RAC) of their obligations under subsection (1), the trustees shall appoint a registered administrator to perform, in relation to that scheme or trust RAC, the duties specified in section 64G(1)(b).
(3) The appointment of a registered administrator under subsection (2) does not relieve the trustees of any of their obligations under subsection (1).
(4)
(a) The trustees or a registered administrator of a scheme may request an employer to whom the scheme relates to furnish them with such information as they may reasonably require for the purposes of their functions under this Act or regulations thereunder and the employer shall comply with any such request.
(aa) Any employer to whom a scheme relates may request the trustees or a registered administrator of the scheme to furnish him with such information as he may reasonably require for the purposes of his functions under this Act or regulations thereunder and the trustees or that registered administrator, as the case may be, shall comply with any such request.
(ab) A registered administrator of a scheme or trust RAC may request the trustees or auditors of that scheme or trust RAC, or the actuary of a scheme or regulatory own funds trust RAC, to furnish him with such information as he may reasonably require for the purposes of his functions under this Act or regulations thereunder, and the trustees, auditors or actuary shall comply with any such request.
(b) The actuary to a scheme or to a regulatory own funds trust RAC or the auditor of a scheme or trust RAC may request the trustees or registered administrator of the scheme or the trust RAC or any employer to whom the scheme relates to furnish him with such information as he may reasonably require for the purposes of his functions under this Act or regulations thereunder and the trustees, registered administrator or employer, as the case may be, shall comply with any such request.
(c) The Board may by notice in writing request an employer, the actuary to whom a scheme relates, or the actuary to or trustees or registered administrator of a scheme or trust RAC, to furnish the Board with such information and within such time limits as the Board may specify in relation to the matters described in subsection (1) and the employer, actuary, trustees or registered administrator, as the case may be, shall comply with any such request.
(ca) The Board may by notice in writing request a registered administrator to furnish to the Board such information relating to its activities in that capacity and within such time limits as the Board specifies in the notice, and the registered administrator shall comply with any such
request.
(d) The Minister may make regulations providing that some or all of the information required to
be disclosed in accordance with this section shall be prepared in accordance with the advice of an actuary and any applicable professional guidance issued by the Society of Actuaries in Ireland and specified in the regulations or with any applicable guidance issued by any other person (including the Minister) and specified in the regulations.
(5) A person who contravenes this section commits an offence punishable, on summary conviction, by a fine not exceeding €5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or both.
(5A) A fine imposed under this section shall not be paid out of the resources of any scheme or trust RAC, as the case may be.
(6) [deleted]
(7) [deleted]
(8) Notwithstanding the amendment of this section by the European Union (Occupational Pension Schemes) Regulations 2021, a small trust RAC to which subsection (7) applied immediately before the coming into operation of those Regulations shall comply with this section not later than 31 December 2021.
55.
Annual reports
(1) The trustees of a scheme or a trust RAC shall prepare an annual report containing information in relation to such matters as may be prescribed with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform concerning the operation of the scheme or the trust RAC during whichever of the following periods the trustees may select, that is to say:
(a) each year beginning on the date specified for the purpose of the scheme or the trust RAC –
(i) in any document comprising the scheme or the trust RAC or which is included among the documents comprising it, or
(ii) in the rules of the scheme or the trust RAC,
(b) each year beginning on the 1st day of January, or
(c) each year beginning on such other day as may be agreed upon by the trustees and the Board.
Provided that –
(i) where the period selected by the trustees is altered, a report prepared for a period other than a year, such period not to exceed 23 months, shall, with the approval of the Board, be regarded as an annual report for the purposes of this section, and
(ii) where the scheme or the trust RAC is in operation for part only of the year selected, a report prepared for a period including that part of the year and not exceeding 23 months shall be regarded as an annual report for the purposes of this section.
(1A) For the purposes of facilitating the discharge by the trustees of a scheme or trust RAC of their obligations under subsection (1), the trustees shall appoint a registered administrator in relation to that scheme or trust RAC.
(1B) The appointment of a registered administrator under subsection (1A) does not relieve the trustees of any of their obligations under subsection (1) or under regulations made under this Act.
(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to –
(a) a scheme or a trust RAC, the only benefit under which is in respect of death prior to normal pensionable age, or
(b) a small scheme other than a small scheme which is a regulatory own funds scheme under which service in the relevant employment after the 1st day of January, 1997, does not entitle the members of the scheme to long service benefit and, where any long service benefit is determined by reference to a member’s earnings, such earnings in the case of all members relate to a date or a period before the 1st day of January, 1997, or
(c) where so prescribed and to such extent as may be prescribed, a small scheme the winding up of which has commenced, unless, in accordance with the regulations prescribing the class of scheme for the purpose of this paragraph, the Board considers it necessary or appropriate and in the interests of the members of the scheme having regard to the circumstances of any particular case that subsection (1) should apply in whole or in part, or
(d) [deleted]
(3) Where an actuarial funding certificate having an effective date after 1 January 2001 and, on or after 1 June 2012, a funding standard reserve certificate has been prepared under section 42 in relation to a scheme each annual report prepared under subsection (1) which relates to a period ending on a day which falls after the effective date of the actuarial funding certificate or funding standard reserve certificate shall, unless subsection (4) applies to it, include a statement by an actuary, in such form as may be prescribed, as to whether he or she is reasonably satisfied that, if he or she were to prepare under section 42 an actuarial funding certificate and, on or after 1 June 2012, a funding standard reserve certificate having an effective date of the last day of the period to which the annual report relates, he or she would certify –
(a) in the case of the actuarial funding certificate, that the scheme satisfies the funding standard provided for in section 44(1), and
(b) in the case of the funding standard reserve certificate, that the scheme satisfies the funding standard reserve provided for in section 44(2).
(4) Where in the most recent actuarial funding certificate or funding standard reserve certificate prepared under section 42 in relation to a scheme the actuary certifies that, in the case of an actuarial funding certificate, at the effective date of the actuarial funding certificate the scheme does not satisfy the funding standard, or, in the case of a funding standard reserve certificate, at the effective date of the funding standard reserve certificate the scheme does not satisfy the funding standard reserve and a funding proposal has been submitted by the trustees of the scheme to the Board in accordance with section 49, each annual report prepared under subsection (1) which relates to a period ending on a day which falls after the effective date of the actuarial funding certificate or funding standard reserve certificate shall include a statement by an actuary, in such form as may be prescribed, as to whether he or she is reasonably satisfied at the last day of the period to which the annual report relates that –
(a) in the case of the actuarial funding certificate, the scheme will satisfy the funding standard at the effective date of the next actuarial funding certificate or, where applicable, any later date specified under subsection (3) or (3B) of section 49, or
(b) in the case of the funding standard reserve certificate, the scheme will satisfy the funding standard reserve at the effective date of the next funding standard reserve certificate or, where applicable, any later date specified under section 49(3B).
(5) Where an annual report prepared under subsection (1) –
(a) does not contain the statements by the actuary required under subsection (3) or (4), as appropriate, or
(b) contains the statements by an actuary required under subsection (3) (a) and (b) but the actuary does not state therein that he or she is reasonably satisfied that, if he or she were to prepare under section 42 an actuarial funding certificate and a funding standard reserve certificate having an effective date of the last day of the period to which the annual report relates, he or she would certify, in the case of an actuarial funding certificate, that the scheme satisfies the funding standard provided for in section 44(1), or, in the case of a funding standard reserve certificate, that the scheme satisfies the funding standard reserve provided for in section 44(2), or
(c) contains the statements by an actuary required under subsection (4) (a) and (b) but the actuary does not state therein that he or she is reasonably satisfied at the last day of the period to which the annual report relates that, in the case of an actuarial funding certificate, the scheme will satisfy the funding standard at the effective date of the next actuarial funding certificate or, where applicable, any later date specified under subsection (3) or (3B) of section 49, or that, in the case of a funding standard reserve certificate, the scheme will satisfy the funding standard reserve by the effective date of the next funding standard reserve certificate or, where applicable, any later date specified under section 49(3B),
then in each case the trustees of the scheme shall notify the Board in writing to that effect within such time limit as may be prescribed.
(6) Regulations may prescribe that an actuary, in making the statements referred to in subsection (3) or (4) shall comply with the applicable professional guidance issued by the Society of Actuaries in Ireland and specified in the regulations or with any applicable guidance issued by any other person (including the Minister or the Board) and specified in the regulations.
(7) Subsections (3), (4), (5) and (6) shall not apply to a regulatory own funds scheme.
(8) Notwithstanding the amendment of this section by the European Union (Occupational Pension Schemes) Regulations 2021 –
(a) a small trust RAC to which the exemption in subsection (1A) applied before the day on which those Regulations come into operation, shall make the appointment referred to in subsection (1A) not later than 31 December 2021,
(b) a one-member arrangement to which the exemption in subsection (1A) applied before the day on which those Regulations come into operation, this section shall only on and from the expiry of 5 years from the date of such coming into operation, apply to such onemember arrangement, and
(c) for the purposes of the preparation of the first annual report following the coming into operation of those Regulations –
(i) in the case of a small trust RAC referred to in paragraph (a), the first annual report shall be prepared in respect of a year specified in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of subsection (1) which falls after the expiration 31 December 2021, and
(ii) in the case of a one-member arrangement referred to in paragraph (b), the first annual report shall be prepared in respect of a year specified in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of subsection (1) which falls after the expiration of the 5 year period referred to in paragraph (b).
56.
Audited accounts and actuarial valuations.
(1) The trustees of a scheme or a trust RAC shall –
(a) cause the accounts of the scheme or trust RAC in respect of such periods as may be prescribed to be audited by the auditor of the scheme or trust RAC,
(b) cause the resources and liabilities of the scheme (including the benefits in respect of UK members which the scheme is required to provide under the Occupational Pension Schemes (Schemes with External Members) (United Kingdom) Regulations, 2000) to be valued by the actuary of the scheme at such times as may be prescribed, and
(c) in respect of each such audit and valuation, cause to be prepared the documents to which this section applies.
(2) The documents to which this section applies are –
(a) the accounts of the scheme or trust RAC concerned,
(b) the auditor’s report on the accounts specified in paragraph (a), and
(c) the actuary’s report on his valuation of the assets and liabilities of the scheme or regulatory own funds trust RAC.
(2A) The trustees of a defined contribution scheme or a trust RAC shall cause the liabilities of the scheme or the trust RAC to be valued in such a manner and at such times as may be prescribed.
(3) For the purposes of this Act a person shall not be qualified for appointment as auditor of a scheme or trust RAC or the business of a PRSA provider –
(a) unless he is qualified to be appointed as an auditor of a company in accordance with the Companies Acts, 1963 to 1990, or
(b) if he is a member of a class of persons standing prescribed for the time being for the purposes of this section.
(4) A person shall not act as auditor of a particular scheme or particular trust RAC or of the business of a particular PRSA provider at a time when he is disqualified under this section, for appointment to that office and, if an auditor of the scheme or trust RAC becomes so disqualified during his term of office as such auditor, he shall thereupon vacate his office and give notice in writing to the trustees of the scheme or trust RAC or to the PRSA provider that he has vacated his office by reason of such disqualification.
(4A) [deleted]
(5) The form and content of any document to which this section applies may be prescribed with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and those documents shall comply with any regulation under this subsection.
(6)
(a) Subsection (1) and paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (2) shall not apply to –
(i) a scheme that is not a funded scheme, or
(ii) a scheme or a trust RAC, the only benefit under which is in respect of death prior to normal pensionable age, or
(iii) a small scheme other than a small scheme which is a regulatory own funds scheme under which service in the relevant employment after the 1st day of January, 1997, does not entitle the members to long service benefit and, where any long service benefit is determined by reference to a member’s earnings, such earnings in the case of all members relate to a date or a period before the 1st day of January, 1997, or
(iv) to such extent as may be prescribed, a small scheme the winding up of which has commenced.
(b) Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) and paragraph (c) of subsection (2) shall not apply to –
(7) [deleted]
(i) a scheme that is a defined contribution scheme, other than a defined contribution scheme to which section 41(2) (a) of this Act applies, or
(ii) a scheme that is not a funded scheme, or
(iii) a scheme the only benefit under which is in respect of death prior to normal pensionable age, or
(iv) a small scheme other than a small scheme which is a regulatory own funds scheme under which service in the relevant employment after the 1st day of January, 1997, does not entitle the members to long service benefit and, where any long service benefit is determined by reference to a member’s earnings, such earnings in the case of all members relate to a date or a period before the 1st day of January, 1997, or
(v) to such extent as may be prescribed, a small scheme the winding up of which has commenced.
[57.
Modification of Part V
57. Where the Minister considers that it. would be unreasonable, having regard to their nature and character and the size of their membership, to require specified schemes [or trust RACs] or categories of schemes [or trust RACs] to comply fully withsections 54, 55, 56 and 56A, he may by regulations made with the consent of the Minister for Finance provide that, in relation to those schemes [or trust RACs], one or more or all of those sections shall not apply, or shall apply with specified modifications, [being modifications the making of which are compatible with the Directive and that, in the opinion of the Minister, are reasonable] and are not such as to relieve the trustees of the obligation to furnish such information under those sections as is appropriate in all the circumstances.]
58.
Conflict between Part V and schemes
58.-(1) The provisions of this Part and of any regulations made thereunder shall override any rule of a scheme [or trust RAC] to the extent that that rule conflicts with those provisions.
(2) Any question as to-
(a) whether any provision of this Part (including the application of any provision as modified by regulations) or any regulation made thereunder conflicts with any rule of a scheme [or a trust RAC], or
(b) whether a scheme is a defined benefit scheme or a defined contribution scheme for the purposes of this Part,
[shall be determined by the Board on application to it in writing in that behalf-
[(i)] in the case of a scheme, by a person who, in relation to the scheme, corresponds to a person mentioned in section 38(3) in relation to the scheme mentioned therein,
[(ii)] in the case of a trust RAC, by a person who is a member or trustee of the trust RAC.]
(3) An appeal to the High Court on a point of law from a determination of the Board under subsection (2) in relation to a scheme[or a trust RAC], may be brought by the person who made, or a person who was entitled to make, the application concerned under subsection (2) [not later than six months after the date of the determination by the Board].
[(4) This section shall not apply to a small trust RAC.]
58A.
Obligation of employer to remit contributions under scheme
[58A-(1) An employer who deducts any sum from the wages or salary of an employee for remittance to the trustees of a scheme [ortrust RAC] or to another person on their behalf, shall remit every such sum to the trustees or that other person on their behalf, as the case may be, within 21 days following the end of the month in which the deduction was made. An employershall not make any deductions from the sum required to be remitted by him under this subsection.
(2) Where an employer is obliged (whether under a contract of employment, the terms of a scheme [or trust RAC] or otherwise) to pay any sum expressed as a cash amount or as a percentage or proportion of an employee’s wages or salary (other than a sum deducted from the employee’s wages or salary), on behalf of or in respect of that employee, to the trustees of a defined contribution scheme [or trust RAC] or to another person on their behalf, he shall, within 21 days following the end of every month, pay to the trustees of the scheme [or trust RAC] or that other person on their behalf, as the case may be, a sum equal to the appropriate cash amount or percentage or proportion of every payment of wages or salary made to thatemployee during that month. An employer shall not make any deduction from the sum required to be paid by him under this subsection.
(3) An employer who-
(a) deducts any sum from the wages or salary of an employee for remittance to the trustees of a scheme [or trust RAC] or to another person on their behalf, or
(b) is obliged (whether under a contract of employment, the terms of a scheme [or trust RAC] or otherwise) to pay any sum, on behalf of or in respect of an employee (other than a sum deducted from the employee’s wages or salary), to the trustees of a defined contribution scheme [or trust RAC] or to another person on their behalf,
shall give or cause to be given to the employee concerned and to the trustees or that other person on their behalf, a statement in writing not less frequently than once a month specifying-
(i) the total amount deducted from the employee’s salary or wages and remitted to the trustees or that other person on their behalf, as the case may be, and
(ii) where appropriate, the total amount paid, on behalf of or in respect of the employee (other than any amount deducted from the employee’s wages or salary), to the trustees or that other person on their behalf, as the case may be,
in the preceding month or, if the previous such statement was given less than a month before, in the period since that previous statement was given.
[(4) Notwithstanding subsection (3), an employer may disregard for the purposes of the statement referred to in that subsection any amount deducted from the wages or salary of an employee, and any amount paid on behalf or in respect of an employee, that is not to be applied as a contribution to secure long service benefit [or as a contribution to a trust RAC].
(5) The requirements of subsection (3) relating to an employee shall be regarded as having been satisfied if particulars of the amount remitted under subparagraph (i) of that subsection or the amount paid under subparagraph (ii) of that sub-section are included in the statement given to the employee concerned under section 4 of the Payment of Wages Act 1991.
(6) In subsections (1) and (2) ‘month’ means-
(a) a calendar month, or
(b) a period of 28 days beginning on a day to be determined by the trustees of the scheme concerned, and each consecutive period of 28 days thereafter (or such shorter period as the trustees of the scheme may determine) each such consecutive period beginning on the day after the last day of the period immediately preceding such period.]]