The consolidation of pension schemes will remain a key focus for Ireland’s Pensions Authority over the next five years.

In its Statement of Strategy 2025 to 2029, the authority committed to “encourage, facilitate and, where possible, direct further consolidation of defined contribution (DC) pension schemes” alongside the consolidation of one-member pension schemes. A high-level indicator of its success in this area will be the rate of consolidation in the market.

The consolidation of schemes has been at the forefront of the authority’s work for several years, following the introduction of the European Union’s IORP II Directive. This continued focus aligns with comments made by The Pensions Regulator, Brendan Kennedy, at the Irish Association of Pension Funds’ summer conference in May.

Indeed, in its strategy, the authority noted that it believes additional European legislation, such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) will “further drive consolidation in the pensions arena”, as these new requirements will “impose significant new reporting and technical requirements”.

Further consolidation will come by April 2026, when the derogation for one-member pension schemes from the obligations of the IORP II Directive expires. Trustees of such schemes are required to make their scheme compliant by the deadline, or risk prosecution. The authority expects that all schemes will transfer into multi-employer master trusts or personal retirement savings accounts (PRSAs).

The authority believes further consolidation of the market will allow it to expand its "forward-looking risk-based supervision on all remaining standalone pension schemes".

The Statement of Strategy is structured into five key sections. It begins with the vision, mission, and values, outlining the long-term ambition for occupational pensions, the roles the organisation will undertake, and the guiding principles for delivering the strategy.

The second section describes the operating context, highlighting the external environment and internal capabilities that influence the strategy. The third section details the strategic objectives and necessary enablers, including high-level indicators to track progress.

The fourth section presents a culture statement, defining the desired workplace environment to support the strategy’s goals. Lastly, the fifth section affirms the organisation’s commitment to equality and human rights.

A mid-term review of the strategy will be undertaken in 2027 to determine whether it remains relevant. The authority said a particular focus of that review will be to determine whether its oversight of occupational pension schemes is still appropriate in light of scheme number consolidation.

A new focus area for the authority during the period will be the oversight of the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA), which is being established to run the government’s auto-enrolment pension scheme, now set to launch in January 2026.

The authority will be required to report annually to the Minister of Social Protection on NAERSA’s operational performance and governance standards. Again, it said it intends to apply “forward-looking risk-based supervision” to prepare the supervisory report.

In a separate statement on its website introducing the strategy, the authority welcomed the recent statement by the Minister for Social Protection, Dara Calleary T.D., that he intends to publish legislation later this year providing for a system of pension scheme authorisation.

“This legislation, in combination with more comprehensive and timely data collection from pension schemes, and further consolidation will provide the basis for more effective supervision in the coming years,” the authority stated.

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