On 27th March, the European Commission published the IORP II Directive - a legislative proposal for new rules on occupational pension funds (IORPs). The general objective of this proposal is to facilitate the development of occupational retirement savings.

The proposal aims at improving governance and transparency of these funds in Europe, promoting cross-border activity, and helping long-term investment.

The proposal has four specific objectives:

The Minister for Health, James Reilly, T.D.  has published “The Path to Universal Healthcare: White Paper on Universal Health Insurance”. The objective of the Government’s health reform programme is to deliver a single-tier health service, supported by Universal Health Insurance (UHI), where access is based on need, not ability to pay.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) invites market participants and (re)insurance stakeholders to provide their feedback on the first set of draft Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) for Solvency II.

With this EIOPA enters the final regulatory phase of Solvency II, during which it will present its draft ITS and Guidelines to the public until the regulation becomes applicable on 1 January 2016.

The Pensions Authority has issued revised statutory guidance, approved by the Minister, regarding applications to the Authority under sections 49 and 50 of the Pensions Act.

The Actuarial Association of Europe issued the following press release today:

Gabriel Bernardino, Chairman of EIOPA, delivered the keynote speech at the  Seminar of the Actuarial Association of Europe on the need for an integrated network of supervisory authorities, close cooperation between supervisors and consistent supervisory practices.

The full text of this speech is available at https://eiopa.europa.eu/press-room/speeches-presentations-and-interview….

At the request of the European Commission, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has issued a Report on the prudential regulations and consumer protection measures needed to create a single market for personal pensions.

EIOPA’s analysis has revealed that taxation, social law and difficulties in the area of harmonisation of contract law appear to be the most significant hurdles.

EIOPA has identified two main options for creating the single market for personal pensions.

The Pensions Board has published a synopsis of the main points made in submissions it received in response to its consultation paper on the future structure and regulation of defined contribution (DC) pensions.  The Board received 44 written submissions in total of which 6 were from individuals and 38 were from organisations/schemes.

The Society of Actuaries in Ireland is recommending to Government that a mandatory pension system should be developed over the next 5 years for all workers as the best way of increasing private pensions coverage and improving the adequacy of pensions for individuals in Ireland. 

The Society’s position paper is available here.