Ireland’s Pensions Authority has published its strategy for the next three years setting out its objectives for the Irish pensions industry, including the consolidation of schemes.

Its Statement of Strategy 2022-2024 covers its vision, mission and values, the operating context, strategic objectives and enablers, as well as its culture statement. The authority plans to review the strategy at the end of 2023. A key focus of this will be to determine how many schemes have wound up and transferred members and assets to multi-employer schemes or to personal retirement savings accounts (PRSAs).

“If the numbers of schemes are not reducing significantly, we will have to assess whether a new or revised strategy is required to achieve our objectives,” the Authority stated.

Within its statement, the authority said that it will not be “practical or economic” for many schemes to comply with the new obligations brought in with the IORP II Directive. It added that it would not be practical for the authority to apply forward-looking risk-based supervision to tens of thousands of pension schemes.

“It is difficult to see how trustee compliance and forward-looking risk-based supervision can be achieved without considerable consolidation of pension schemes,” the report stated.

One of its main strategic objectives is for the Irish pension system to comprise stable and sound occupational pensions that are well managed to appropriately high standards.

Commenting on the launch of the strategy, the Pensions Regulator, Brendan Kennedy, said: “The authority’s most important role is the supervision of scheme trustees and PRSAs. This strategy sets out how we intend to undertake our work over the next three years.

“The transposition of the IORP II directive into Irish pensions law represents significant change for Irish pensions and for the authority. The obligations on scheme trustees are much more demanding and complex than they have been before. As a result, the work of the authority has also become more challenging and extensive.

“The legislation obliges us to supervise schemes on a forward-looking risk-based supervisory basis, which will result in more challenging, judgement-based, and intrusive oversight. As well as our supervisory responsibilities, the authority will be expected to provide much more information and guidance than in the past and to make clear what its expectations are of regulated entities."

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