Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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288. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question 137 of 25 September 2018, the status of the review of the area of pension transfers abroad; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3061/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by Revenue that the transfer of deferred benefits may be made from an occupational pension scheme or a Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA) to an overseas pension arrangement, once such a transfer complies with the Occupational Pension Schemes and Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (Overseas Transfer Payments) Regulations 2003, available at . The Regulations are under the remit of the Minister for Social Protection and prescribe the conditions for transfers to pension arrangements established outside the State.

Such conditions must therefore be satisfied to ensure that a transfer to an overseas pension scheme is a bone fide transfer. When facilitating the transfer of an occupational pension scheme or PRSA to an overseas pension scheme, the trustees or PRSA provider must be satisfied that:

(a) the member or PRSA contributor has requested a transfer,

(b) the overseas arrangement provides relevant benefits as defined by section 770 Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (TCA), and

(c) the overseas arrangement has been approved by the appropriate regulatory authority in the country concerned.

To comply with (b) and (c) above, the trustees or PRSA provider should also obtain written confirmation from the administrator of the overseas arrangement to which the transfer is to be made.

Transfers from an Irish pension scheme to a pension scheme in another EU Member State, must be to a scheme which is operated or managed by an Institution for Occupational Retirement Provision (IORP) within the meaning of the EU Pensions Directive, and must be established in a Member State of the EU which has implemented the Directive in its national law. Transfers are also permitted from an Irish pension scheme to a pension scheme in the United Kingdom which is subject to governance and regulatory requirements similar to those under the IORP Directives. The scheme administrator must be resident in an EU Member State or the UK as appropriate.

If the transfer is to a country outside the EU (other than the UK) a transfer may not be made to a country other than the one in which the member is currently employed.

This is an area that remains the subject of engagement between my Department and Revenue, and other stakeholders as required with a focus on ensuring that all pensions tax relief is availed of in an appropriate manner.