Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 October 2009
113 Deputy Ciarán Lynch asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the steps she is taking to ensure greater efficiencies at the Office of the Pensions Ombudsman; and the amount of savings or the types of efficiencies secured in the past 12 months. [34402/09]
View answer151 Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the steps she is taking to ensure greater efficiencies at the Office of the Pensions Board; and the amount of savings or the types of efficiencies secured in the past 12 months. [34403/09]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 113 and 151 together.
The Office of the Pensions Ombudsman is a statutory office established in 2003 under the terms of the Pensions Act 1990, as amended. The Pensions Ombudsman is charged with investigating and deciding complaints and disputes concerning occupational pension schemes, trust-based retirement annuity contracts and personal retirement savings accounts (PRSAs).
There are two important factors to be taken into account when looking at the efficiency of the Office. Firstly, the number of complaints received by the Office has increased very significantly — by 47% in 2008 and, in the first nine months of 2009, an increase of 68% when compared with the same period in 2008. However, while additional staff resources are not available to the Office, the introduction of a new case management system and streamlined complaint handling procedures has resulted in the number of complaint cases closed in the first nine months of 2009 being over double the corresponding number closed in the same period in 2008, a very significant increase in efficiency in the context of delivery of service to the public.
The Office, including the Pensions Ombudsman, has a staff complement of 10. Pay costs account for almost 80% of its budget. Accordingly, the current public sector pay freeze, pension levy and recruitment moratorium will impact on costs.
The Exchequer allocation to the Office reduced from €1,058,000 in 2007 to €974,000 in 2009. In 2008, the Office secured a saving of €59,000, representing 25% of total non-pay cost. It is expected that further cost reductions will be achieved in 2010.
Day-to-day operations at the Pensions Board are funded by income generated from fees levied on occupational pension schemes, PRSAs and interest income received. Several initiatives have been taken during the past year to reduce costs and increase efficiencies. In 2009, funding for the National Pensions Awareness Campaign was halved, to €500,000. In addition, significant savings have been made through a reduction in fees paid to Board members, reductions in cost for staff training and development, a reduction in printing of publications through greater use of internet technology, and cost reductions in areas such as advertising, recruitment consultancy and project development. The recruitment moratorium — which has resulted in the non-replacement of some contracted employees — and the pension levy also apply to the Pensions Board. It is expected that further cost reductions will be achieved in 2010.
