The Irish Pensions Authority is set to share its 2025-2029 pension strategy in the “coming weeks”, pensions regulator Brendan Kennedy has announced, confirming it will not involve any “significant change in direction”.
Speaking at the Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF) summer conference on 27 May, Kennedy said the new strategy will continue to prioritise its objectives set out in the 2022-2024 strategy.
Kennedy had highlighted the Pensions Authority’s work around authorisation, welcoming the news legislation will be published later this year.
He said: “Once legislation has been enacted by the Oireachtas, our priority will be to implement it quickly.”
He also noted that the Authority would continue to address the number of pension funds that are not yet compliant with their IORP II obligations, adding that it is less than a year until the derogation for older single-member schemes expires in April 2026.
Given this, Kennedy confirmed that the Pensions Authority will continue to liaise closely with administrators to monitor progress and to identify any obstacles that arise.
He also added that the regulator will continue a mix of themed and scheme-specific reviews in the coming years.
In due course, he said, it will integrate authorisation and its supervisory review process. He noted that the significant increase in the number of personal retirement savings accounts (PRSAs) will also be reflected in its supervisory activities.
Kennedy said that forward-looking risk-based supervision will continue to be a “fundamental part” of the Authority’s oversight of pension schemes, placing emphasis on the need for the industry to improve its data.
He said: “Risk-based supervision relies on data, and in future, scheme trustees will be obliged to provide considerably more information to the Pensions Authority.”
Kennedy also highlighted the importance of Europe for future strategy, adding that the Pensions Authority and pension schemes have been working to meet the Digital Operational Resilience Act’s (DORA) requirements in recent months.
He continued: “Looking ahead, Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and related European obligations are on the horizon, and there will undoubtedly be further developments in European legislation after that. The EU will be a major influence on the Irish pensions landscape in the coming years.”
Trustee priorities
Kennedy highlighted governance, administration and IT, cost and value for money, investment, and communication with members as priorities for trustees in the coming years.
He said: “Since 2021, trustees have been working to implement the obligations arising from IORP II and responding to the changes in legislation.
“This phase should be over. Over the coming five years and beyond, trustees’ objective should be to address the needs of their members, and not just seek to achieve minimum compliance.”
He also noted that “there will always be regulatory changes to respond to, especially related to European developments”.
“But trustees must consciously aim to be proactive, to be frontrunning national and international developments in the interests of their members.”
Read the digital edition of IPE’s latest magazine
Pamela is IPE's UK correspondent.
Before joining IPE in May 2023, she spent five years writing about the insurance industry.
During her career so far she won awards for Most Promising Newcomer in 2020 and Best Investigative Article in 2022 from the British Insurance Brokers Association, and was also highly commended at the WTW Media Awards for Insurance Features Journalist of The Year.View full Profile
No comments yet