Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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277. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 37 of 2 April 2015, if she will consider a number of points and answer questions (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32038/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The legislative provisions pertaining to the Office of the Pensions Ombudsman (OPO) are contained in Part XI of the Pensions Act 1990, as amended. The functions of the Pensions Ombudsman, who is independent in the exercise of his functions, are set out in Section 131 of the Act.

The Pensions Ombudsman has authority to adjudicate on certain disputes arising under occupational pension schemes and Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs). The legislation does not confer authority on the Pensions Ombudsman to adjudicate on employment or industrial relations issues, such as redundancy agreements. The determinations of the Pensions Ombudsman are legally binding on the parties to the complaint/dispute, subject to appeal to the High Court.

With regard to complaints referred to the Pensions Ombudsman it should be noted that the circumstances and complexity of each complaint can differ and contribute to the length of time taken to complete investigation and adjudication. It is also worth noting that the time taken to deal with a complaint runs from the date of first contact with the Office even where such contact was on the basis of a preliminary phone call or email query and a detailed submission from the complainant was not supplied until much later. In addition, it can happen that, in the course of an investigation, additional complaint issues are introduced or that the Office is asked to put its investigation on hold while alternate settlement or resolution proposals are being explored. Furthermore, cases appealed to the High Court are not considered closed by the Office until the date of judgement and the court process can take several years in some cases. Such delays, which are often outside the control of the Pensions Ombudsman, add to the time taken to complete the investigation into a complaint and can serve to distort the statistical data.

While it was recorded in the 2013 Annual Report that one case took more than 8 years to complete, it should be noted that from September 2003 to 31^stDecember 2013 the Office has dealt with over 5,400 complaint cases.

In addition to providing formal adjudication on pension-related complaints, the Pensions Ombudsman has striven to be accessible and to provide assistance and guidance to members of the public experiencing difficulties with their pension.

The Office of the Pensions Ombudsman produces an annual report, which sets out relevant statistical details of the work undertaken by the Office, as well as examples of the cases dealt with and a commentary on pension difficulties experienced or potentially problematic issues that have come to its attention.

The Office operates an informative website and has produced several booklets and leaflets to assist the public in understanding the role and function of the Pensions Ombudsman in relation to pension-related complaints.

Following on from the publication of the Public Service Reform Plan in November 2011 which included measures to rationalise a number of state agencies, the Department of Social Protection was charged with undertaking a critical review of the Office of the Pensions Ombudsman.

The critical review was to consider merging the Office of the Pensions Ombudsman with the Financial Services Ombudsman. The Steering Group established to carry out the review concluded that a merger of the Pensions Ombudsman with the Financial Services Ombudsman was the appropriate measure to take thereby providing the consumer with a one-stop shop for queries on pensions and financial products.

Government approval has been given to the Minister for Finance for the draft Heads of a Bill to amalgamate the Financial Services Ombudsman and the Pensions Ombudsman and for the referring of the scheme of the Bill to the Office of the Attorney General for drafting.

As disputes relating to redundancy and other industrial relations issues come within the remit of workplace relations under the aegis of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, it is not proposed to extend the remit of the Pensions Ombudsman to such matters.

I have set out hereunder the age breakdown on cases on hands/dealt with.

Statistics

The annual report for 2013 shows 222 cases on hand at 31 December 2013. The age breakdown, in weeks, of these cases (i.e. the age at 31 December 2013) is below.

1.The annual report for 2013 shows 75 cases were closed because they were outside the Terms of Reference (OTOR) of the Office of the Pensions Ombudsman. The age breakdown of these cases is as follows:

2.The annual report for 2013 shows Final Determinations were issued in 70 cases. This is made up of 33 cases that were not upheld and 37 cases that were upheld. The age breakdown for these cases is as follows: