IAPF Spring 2018 Irish Pensions Magazine

IRISH PENSIONS MAGAZINE | SPRING 2018 | 41 FEATURE ANNU L DINNER less competition than our mainland European neighbours. However, that is not so in the occupational pension sector which we represent. The Department’s report on pension charges in Ireland from2012notedthat Irish occupational pension schemes compare favourably to external benchmarks in terms of pension charges. The report concluded that Irish defined contribution pension scheme costs are reasonably competitive, and we know from our own research and experience that in the intervening five or six years those costs and charges have become significantly more competitive. We can see this, for instance, in the ongoing submissions which we receive for the award of our pension quality standard. Obviously we are not perfect, but given the relative size of our pension funds, the efficiencies that Irish trustees manage to achieve are impressive. Another example of the level of community that exists in the pensions sector in Ireland is our response to the proposed introduction of debt on employer legislation here. In theUK, debt on employer legislation was introduced overnight, for fear of pre-emptive action being taken by defined benefit scheme sponsors. In exercises produced by our Benefits Committee, the ongoing work by our DC Committee to address the challenges of retiring from a DC scheme and the many guides to aspects of investment produced by our Investment Committee. It brings home to me that we represent, not just an industry or a sector, but a pension community. This collegiality enables us to act as a clearing house for new ideas and concepts, and provide an objective viewpoint on these issues and developments for our membership. We can also provide an objective viewpoint on proposed policy developments to Government and to our regulator, and we very much value our strong relationship in this regard with both the Pensions Authority and the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. Perhaps the sense that we are a community, that we are something more than a purely self-interested group of people, can be attributed to the fact that we belong to a small close knit country. Now, in other areas, the fact that we are a small, island nation can prove a disadvantage. We often find that it leads to us having higher costs and