The Pensions Board has successfully prosecuted a company and one of its directors for failing to remit pension contributions. The Company had deducted pension contributions from the wages and salaries of its employees between October 2006 and December 2008 for remittance to the trustees of the Construction Workers Pension Scheme but failed to make the remittances within the statutory timeframe.
Personnel from the Pensions Board carried out a search of the company’s premises to investigate this matter having received complaints from employees regarding the deduction and non-remittance of pension contributions. The amount deducted and not remitted to the pension scheme was estimated to be in the region of €53,500. Essentially, employees of the company were not covered for sick-pay benefits or death in service benefits from October 2006 to December 2008.
The director was convicted and fined €5,000 and ordered to pay legal costs of €5,000. The company, which is currently in liquidation, was also convicted and fined €5,000. The Court decided that the non-payment of contributions which occurred during the construction boom was deliberate and that the offences of the company were deemed to have been committed with the consent or connivance of or attributable to neglect on the part of the director concerned.
In a separate case, the Pensions Board successfully prosecuted the trustee of a pension plan for failure to submit an actuarial funding certificate within 9 months of the effective date of the certificate, as is required by statute. The trustee company was fined €3,850 and ordered to pay legal costs of €600 + VAT. The Court regarded the non-submission of the actuarial funding certificate as a serious matter and noted that the trustee could not blame the service provider because ensuring the provision of such certificates is ultimately the trustees’ responsibility.
These cases illustrate the Pensions Board’s hard line approach to non-compliance with statutory requirements and its determination not to shy away from prosecuting individuals if necessary and appropriate.
