Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 April 2021
270. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to recent reports into the high level of company charges applied to individual pension plans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21391/21]
View answerI am aware of a number of reports into charges applied to pension plans. However, while I understand a document on charges has been recently reported on, to date such a document has not been submitted to my Department and as such I cannot comment on its content.
Having said that, as Minister for Finance my role in the pension policy space primarily relates to the provision of tax relief to encourage individuals to save to ensure they will have sufficient income for use in their retirement. However, it is worth noting that the Interdepartmental Pensions Reform and Taxation Group (IDPRTG), chaired by my Department, published its Report on supplementary pensions in November 2020. This provides a number of recommendations and conclusions to help advance the aim of simplifying and harmonising the supplementary pension landscape in Ireland.
As part of this aim it seeks to improve regulatory oversight and reduce costs which in turn should lead to better retirement outcomes for pension savers. It highlights the complexity of pension products which currently require a high level of intermediation between the consumer and supplementary pension providers, driving up costs for some consumers through payments of fees and commissions for intermediation and advice services.
The Report states that reducing the number of schemes and rationalising pension products will help diminish such complexity, enhance market competitiveness, drive product efficiencies and in turn should lead to better retirement outcomes for pension savers.
The IDPRTG Report represents a building block for a significant longer term reform in the area of supplementary pensions, which in turn will have wider longer term consumer, economic and fiscal benefits. The Group is actively working on implementing a number of those recommendations with a view to addressing some of those highlighted issues.
