Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 6 February 2013

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection

Report on Pension Charges: Discussion with Department of Social Protection

1:30 pm

Mr. Joe Morley:

Certainly, companies are supposed to include the charges in the documentation at the commencement of a product. I accept it can be difficult for the consumer to make a comparison across other services but we found that out as part of the review. What we have tried to do is to introduce the statement so that the consumer can see, at the end of each year, information on the charges - information that was not previously provided. The situation currently is that all consumers get a current balance at the end of each year. This new statement will actually show what is going on during the year. It is something the Central Bank intends to examine during the year to ensure that statements in the agreed format are being issued. In cases in which a consumer had dealt with an intermediary, the consumer would be able to go back through the intermediary, who is subject to our code and has a responsibility to sell suitable products to the individuals.