John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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212. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason an owner of a minimum approved retirement fund who cannot withdraw it until 75 years of age is not allowed to freeze the account to prevent any further interest charges being applied (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13415/17]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by Revenue that an individual in a defined contribution pension savings arrangement has the option of putting the funds accumulated under the arrangement into an Approved Retirement Fund (ARF) on retirement, subject to conditions.

Where such an individual is under the age of 75 at the time of exercising the option and does not meet the requirement of having a minimum guaranteed pension income for life of €12,700 per annum, he or she is required to set aside an amount of €63,500 (or the remainder of the pension fund if less than €63,500 after taking a retirement lump sum) by investing the amount in an Approved Minimum Retirement Fund (AMRF) or by the purchase of an annuity. The purpose of the AMRF is to ensure that an individual, who does not have a minimum guaranteed pension income for life, has a capital nest-egg to provide for the later years of his or her retirement.

On foot of changes to the AMRF arrangements which I introduced in Finance Act 2014, with effect from 1 January 2015, AMRF owners can draw down up to 4% of the value of the fund assets on one occasion annually until he or she either meets the guaranteed pension income requirement or attains the age of 75, at which point, the AMRF automatically becomes an ARF and any remaining funds can be drawn down at the owner's discretion.

As the funds in an AMRF are beneficially owned by the AMRF owner, the question of how they are managed, in order, for example, to maximise returns, or to protect against adverse investment conditions is a matter for the owner, in conjunction with his or her Qualifying Fund Manager.