Rush to meet deadline

PENSION providers were last night dealing with a last-minute rush by employers to meet the deadline to make Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) available to employees.

An Irish Pensions Board spokesperson said it would take at least a month to determine the number of employers who had failed to sign up for the mandatory scheme, the registration deadline for which expired last night.

Employers who fail to register face criminal prosecutions, fines of up to €12,500 and/or a maximum of two years in jail.