Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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168. To ask the Minister for Social Protection to set out the average fees paid on the management of pension funds here and her plans to cap these fees; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6042/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Report on Pension Charges 2012, undertaken at my request, was the first comprehensive study of the area. The report, which can be accessed on the welfare.ie website, was undertaken by my Department working with the Central Bank and the then Pensions Board. It gathered information on the level of pension charges levied during the pension-saving cycle from initial set-up, to on-going maintenance and to the point of retirement. The focus of the report is on pension types utilised by the majority of pension savers in the Irish marketplace. This amounts to almost 750,000 people who have pensions across a wide range of pension vehicles, both employer-sponsored and individual arrangements.

The report shows that there are a wide range of different charges and their application can vary greatly, both in scale and complexity across the various pension arrangements. Charging structures are influenced by many scheme specific factors including scheme structure, type, age and size.

The report noted that unlike other pension structures, the cost structure in relation to Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) is regulated and considered whether similar regulation should apply for other pension vehicles. Having examined the issue in depth, the report concluded that the focus of recommendations should be on measures that would introduce clarity and consistency across the various products, and increase consumer/trustee understanding to provide a better result for the consumer. I have previously highlighted that the matter of pension charges will be kept under review with a view to considering more stringent options if necessary. In this regard I can confirm that I have asked that the matter of pension charges be a priority item for consideration by the Pensions Council. I recently established the Pensions Council to help strengthen the pensions environment by advising the Minister for Social Protection on policy matters of relevance to pensions and giving consumers greater input into pension policy.