Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 30:

In page 10, to delete lines 53 and 54 and in page 11, to delete lines 1 to 21 and substitute the following:

"(12) Notwithstanding any provision of any enactment (including this Act), or any rule of law, or anything contained in the rules of a scheme, being a scheme approved by the Commissioners, or the terms and conditions of any contract, being a contract approved by the Commissioners, if under this section---

(a) a chargeable person who is an insurer pays an amount to the Commissioners in respect of the duty in relation to a contract of assurance, the amount shall be deemed to be a necessary disbursement from the pension fund of the insurer and the insurer may adjust accordingly any current or prospective benefits or guarantees under the contract, and any such adjustment of benefits or guarantees by the insurer shall not result in the contract ceasing to be a contract approved by the Commissioners, and

(b) a chargeable person who is an administrator pays an amount to the Commissioners in respect of the duty in relation to the assets of a scheme, or where an amount in respect of the duty in relation to the assets of a scheme has been paid to the Commissioners by any other chargeable person, the aggregate of the amount of duty paid by the administrator and the other chargeable person shall be deemed to be a necessary disbursement from those assets, and the benefits payable currently or prospectively to any member under the scheme may accordingly be adjusted by the trustees, but the diminution in value of those benefits shall not exceed the amount disbursed from the assets attributable at the valuation date to the scheme's liabilities in respect of that member, and any such adjustment of benefits by the trustees shall not result in the scheme ceasing to be a scheme approved by the Commissioners.

(13) For the purposes of subsections (5) and (12), the Commissioners may, where they consider it appropriate, review any such disposal or appropriation of an asset as is referred to in subsection (5), or any such adjustment of benefits as is referred to in subsection (12), to ensure that any such disposal, appropriation or adjustment, as the case may be, is in keeping with the requirements of this section, and for the purposes of subsection (12) the Commissioners may consult with such other persons as, in their opinion, may be of assistance to them.",".

Amendments Nos. 30 to 37, inclusive, are all concerned, in one form or another, with adjustments by insurers and administrators to benefits payable as a result of the payment of the levy. Amendment No. 30 is designed to provide greater clarification regarding the circumstances and manner in which benefits payable under a scheme may be adjusted, where considered necessary by insurers and trustees, on foot of the payment of the levy. The amendment, which involves the insertion of a new subsection (12) and a new subsection (13) initially provides for the overriding of any provisions of legislation or rule of law or anything contained in the rules of a scheme or the terms of a contract which might otherwise prevent or restrict the adjustment of benefits payable under a scheme.

The new subsection (12)(a) permits a chargeable person who is an insurer the option of adjusting any current or prospective benefit or guarantees under contract of assurance on foot a payment of a levy. The new subsection (12)(b) provides a similar option to scheme trustees to adjust benefit payable currently or prospectively to any member under the scheme on foot of the amount of the levy paid in respect of assets of the scheme, both by the scheme administrator and other chargeable persons, such as, for example, an insurer with regard to scheme assets that are contracts of assurance. This provision also ensures that should the option of reduced scheme benefits be taken, it must essentially be applied in an equitable fashion across the different classes of scheme members, which could include active, deferred or retired members. In no circumstances may the reduction of an individual member's or class of members' benefits exceed the member's or class of members' share of the levy.

The new subsection (13) gives the Revenue Commissioners authority to review any case where assets are disposed of by administrators or trustees in order to pay the levy. This is to ensure that any such disposals will be in keeping with or will be needed in order to pay the levy. This new subsection also gives the Revenue Commissioners oversight authority to review instances where benefits are adjusted as a result of the payment of the levy in order to ensure that such adjustments will be made in accordance with the requirements of the levy legislation. Furthermore, it assures compliance with the provisions of the new subsection (12)(b), which stipulates that in respect of any member of a scheme the adjustment must ensure that any diminution in the value of the benefit shall not exceed the amount of the levy on the assets attributable to the scheme's liabilities in respect of that member. The latter function will also allow the Revenue Commissioners to consult with appropriate experts where necessary. I commend amendment No. 30 to the House.

See this speech in context