IAPF Spring 2018 Irish Pensions Magazine

36 | IRISH PENSIONS MAGAZINE | SPRING 2018 FEATURE " SIMON KEW DIRECTOR, FINANCIAL ADVISORY - PENSIONS DELOITTE the Irish DB pensions system in the coming months and years. Strand 04 of the roadmap document ‘Measures to Support the Operation of Defined Benefit Schemes’ states that “the objective of any measures must be to support the sustainability of existing DB schemes and, where possible, limit DB scheme closures and safeguard the delivery of the benefits promised to all members.”. To successfully deliver this objective, I would suggest, open and honest dialogue between trustees and employers should be at the heart of matters. It is essential for both parties to focus on the issue of funding the scheme, without jeopardising the long-term sustainability of the sponsor. Given the recent launch of the ‘Roadmap for Pensions Reform’, Simon Kew of Deloitte LLP looks to the UK for what similarities currently exist and to find some helpful pointers of what may lie ahead. With assets under management of over ¤62bn, the defined benefit (DB) sector remains a significant provider of retirement provision in Ireland. Recognising this, through the launch of “A Roadmap for Pensions Reform” in March 2018, the Government of Ireland has set out proposals to ‘overhaul [the] approach to providing for pension income in retirement’. By looking to the experience of the UK system, different though it may be, we might shine a light on how the proposals made could impact A road to affordability?

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