The Irish Pensions Ombudsman saw a forty-three per cent rise in new cases compared to 2007, with the number of cases closed in 2008 up by ten per cent on last year.

Around 450 cases are currently under investigation by the Dublin-based organisation, and its website has recorded over a third of a million hits annually.

A statement regarding the provisional figures of the caseload in the Ombudsman's office during 2008 said there was 'a significant increase in complaints by the public', with 737 new cases reported.

In addition to these new cases, 354 were carried over from 2007, giving a total of 1,091
cases for the year.

"While there have been increases across most of the categories of complaint, a significant element to emerge from the 2008 data is the increase in the number of complaints relating to Remittance of Contributions - where 101 cases were received last year as opposed to just 35 in the previous year, an increase of almost 200 per cent," commented the Pensions Ombudsman, Paul Kenny. "These are cases alleging that pension deductions were made from wages but then not passed on by the employer to the pension company. The majority of these were in small construction
companies."

Kenny reminded companies that despite the difficult economic circumstances, companies must not be tempted to regard pension deductions as a source of temporary cash flow: "These deductions are not, and must never be regarded by a company as part of their funding arrangement. These funds are the exclusive property of the employees and are not available to a company for any purpose."

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