IRELAND – Ireland’s Pensions Board plans to target the 30,000 employers who appear not to have met their pensions obligations.

The regulator said it will send letters and questionnaires next month to employers that do not have a registered pension scheme or a provider of Personal Retirement Savings Accounts, or PRSAs.

The move comes two years after firms became legally bound to enter a contract with a PRSA provider to give access to pension arrangements. Under a PRSA contract contributions paid are tax deductible and the investment return is also tax exempted.

Mary Hutch, head of information and training at the Pensions Board said: “The monitoring of employers’ obligations to provide access to PRSAs continues to be a high priority.”

Hutch told IPE that the board is undertaking a national review of pensions.

At the moment 52% of the Irish workforce has some form of pension coverage, Hutch said - and the board aims at raising awareness to hit 70% especially among the over-30s.

According to the Pensions Board the 10 PRSA providers’ business amounted to €270.6m in the second quarter of this year.

The Pensions Board is also involved in tackling “inactive” PRSA employers, who notify employees that the company has a PRSA provider but take no further step.

“The employer must notify excluded employees of their right to contribute to the chosen PRSA,” it said.

Last month the Pensions Board prosecuted Pepsi Cola Trading Ireland and two other companies for failing to comply with requests for information on their pension obligations.

Pepsi was given a letter of sanction, while the other two companies were ordered to pay €4,800 in costs plus VAT.