Ireland’s largest life assurance company, Irish Life, is pleased to announce that Ms. Sandra Rockett, Director of Business Development at Irish Life Investment Managers, has been appointed to the newly formed Pensions Council.  The unpaid council has been established by the Department of Social Protection to help strengthen the pensions environment and give consumers greater input into pension policy.  

 

 

Ms. Rockett, who is an actuary by profession has been chosen along with six others to sit on the council, along with Chairman Mr. Jim Murray.  

 

 

The function of the Pensions Council is to advise the Minister for Social Protection on matters of relevance to pensions, with a particular focus on policies to support the sustainability and adequacy of pension provision. It will represent and protect the consumer and ensure that the system has a far stronger consumer focus.

 

 

Membership of the Council has been constituted to ensure the relevant skills, specialist knowledge, and experience is in place to allow for the provision of collective advice, information and assistance in the development of pensions policy.

 

 

The Council was established in 2013, as part of a range of changes introduced to strengthen governance and regulation of the country’s occupational pensions and give consumers greater input into pensions policy. The changes included a newly-structured Pensions Authority and Pensions Regulator. The Pensions Board was renamed the Pensions Authority and split into two bodies – a three person Pensions Commission, and a separate unpaid Pensions Council. 

 

 

The Council will also include: representative of the Department of Social Protection - Helen McDonald; the Pensions Regulator - Mr Brendan Kennedy; member nominated by the Minister for Finance as a representative of the Central Bank - Marie Louise Delahunty; and member nominated by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform as a representative of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform - Peter Brazel.