Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 January 2019
273. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 648 of 22 January 2019, if her attention has been drawn to the fact that Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Austria, Bulgaria and the UK have transposed IORP II in view of the fact that the attention of her Department has been drawn to only one country which has transposed the directive to date. [4695/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe over-arching objective of IORP II Directive is to facilitate the development of occupational retirement savings in the EU. Many of the provisions contained within the Directive will support positive reform of the Irish occupational pension sector. The Directive provides for a range of new requirements concerning governance, management standards in schemes, safekeeping of assets, the need for clear and relevant information to members, the removal of obstacles to cross-border provision of pension services and the facilitation of cross border transfer of schemes. There are also provisions that will enhance the powers of the Pensions Authority for effective supervision of occupational pensions.
The IORP II Directive was the result of almost three years of discussion and negotiation and came into force on 12 January 2017. Officials in my Department, supported by the Pensions Authority, are managing the transposition process of the IORP II Directive. This is a substantial Directive and preparation of regulations to transpose the Directive are at an advanced stage. It is expected that transposition into Irish law will be achieved later this quarter. This timeframe is in keeping with many other EU countries. National transposition measures communicated by the Member States to the Commission concerning the Directive are available online on one of the Commission's web sites and the list is updated weekly. No such notifications were published on that website when Parliamentary Question No. 648 was responded to. Since then, and as of 28th January 2019, ten countries have been reported as notifying the Commission of transposing measures.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
