Section 37 of the Pensions Act 1990 provides that certain defined benefit schemes may be exempted from the preservation requirements of Part III of the 1990 Act if the benefits provided under such schemes are no less favourable than those required by the Act. Such schemes may be exempted by regulations made by the Minister for Social Protection with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform.
The pension schemes currently exempt from the preservation requirements, which are, in effect, public sector pension schemes, are listed in the Schedule of the Occupational Pension Schemes (Preservation of Benefits) Regulations 2002 (S.I. No. 279 of 2002), as amended.
Where a request is made seeking the exemption of a pension scheme from requirements of Part III of the 1990 Act, the relevant Government Department making the request should outline to my Department the basis for the request and confirm that the retirement benefits provided under the scheme, and the provisions pertaining to the preservation of those benefits, are no less favourable than those set out under Part III of the 1990 Act. The requesting Department must also confirm that the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, who is responsible for policy in respect of public sector pensions, consents to the exemption sought.
In effect, an exemption to a relevant scheme is provided, at a given time, on foot of a request and the aforementioned confirmations. The 1990 Act does not provide for, or require, the ongoing monitoring of schemes which have been exempted from Part III of the 1990 Act. Queries in relation to the benefits provided for under a relevant scheme should be raised with the scheme and the line Department.
The reference to an EU Directive by the Deputy is unclear. The IORP II Directive, which became effective from 13 January 2019, sets out minimum standards for the management and supervision of pension schemes but does not impose any requirements on Member States relating to the preservation of pension benefits.
I hope this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
