PRSA access still limited

The almost 50 per cent of Irish employers not offering their staff occupational pensions are defying their legal obligation to sign up with a Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA) provider.

More than one year after the deadline for employers to allow staff to open a pension through their employment at one of 10 PRSA providers, 64,000 have yet to do so.

"The monitoring of employers' obligations to provide access to PRSAs continues to be a high priority for the remainder of the year," said Ms Anne Maher, chief executive of the Pensions Board, which regulates the sector.

She said there was particular concern about the availability of PRSAs to workers in small firms, notably in the hospitality, retail and farming sectors where there is a high proportion of part-time and seasonal employees.

And the take-up among employees of the 66,486 companies that are offering PRSAs is still very low. Only 18,117 employees at less than 10 per cent of the companies that have established a PRSA option are availing of it and making contributions, according to figures compiled by the Pensions Board.

A total of 37,086 people in and out of the workplace had taken out a PRSA by the end of September, the data show. However, the rate of increase is declining despite a National Pensions Awareness Week held in September and the then imminent October 31st deadline for making backdated pension contributions.

According to the Pensions Board figures, more than 30,000 people have opened PRSAs in the past year and the amount held in the accounts has topped €100 million. At the end of September, it stood at €106.6 million.

While the board acknowledges take-up is low to date, it says awareness of pensions is growing.