State failing to sell PRSAs - survey

The Government is failing to get the message on its new pension initiative across to the very groups it is designed to help, according to a new survey.

Awareness of the personal retirement savings accounts is lowest among the very people it is targeting - lower income groups and farmers who have no pension provision.

Half of the respondents in the survey conducted by Lansdowne Market Research for the Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) were unaware of the existence of PRSAs, which must be offered by every employer not already providing occupational pension coverage by mid-September.

And, while people do have some idea of the income they want in retirement, nearly half have no idea of the amount they need to invest now in a pension scheme to achieve it.

IIF chief executive Mr Mike Kemp welcomed the Government's PRSA information campaign, announced yesterday, but said more needed to be done to get across the simple message that "the more you put aside now, the more you can expect in retirement".

He said that people should be putting aside as much as 15 per cent of their earnings from when they first join the workforce to provide adequate cover in retirement.

The IIF, which represents Ireland's life assurers who are selling the PRSAs, says part of the problem has been mixed messages from regulators. "Insurers endorse PRSAs but are concerned that the regulatory environment for suppliers is becoming confused," said IIF spokesman Mr Martin Long.

The Pensions Board has licensed both standard PRSAs, with a fixed low-charge structure, and non-standard products.

However, the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA) last week urged people to think carefully before opting for the non-standard variety.

The Pensions Board yesterday published a free booklet detailing employers' obligations in relation to PRSAs. The IIF will carry out a further survey on PRSA awareness in a couple of months' time.