Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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564. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if an organisation (details supplied) will be contacted to address the outstanding pension issues with the approximately 200 staff who work there. [21408/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will appreciate that I cannot comment on issues relating to a particular pension scheme. However, generally speaking, trustees of pension schemes have duties and responsibilities under the Pensions Act, under trust law, and under other relevant legislation.

Trustees must administer the trust in accordance with the law and the terms of the trust deed and rules. The provisions of the PensionsAct are enforced by the Pensions Authority so any issues or complaints in relation to a particular scheme should be notified to the Authority for action. The Pensions Authority will assess if there has been a breach of any legal obligations and take any necessary action if such a breach is found.

Although the Pensions Authority is under the aegis of my Department, it regulates pension schemes entirely independently of my Department.

A scheme member may also make a complaint about their pension scheme to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman which is an independent body under the aegis of the Department of Finance.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.