PRSA sales slump reinforces criticism

CRITICS of the Government’s troubled pensions initiative have been given fresh ammunition, after new figures show a slump in sales of Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs).

The Pensions Board, the body charged by the Government with boosting the take-up of individual pension plans, said only 9,000 new PRSAs were opened in the three months to December. This compared with more than 12,000 new sales in the same period in 2003. The last quarter of the year is considered a key period for the sale of pension products because awareness of the tax breaks associated with pensions tends to be at its highest.

Only 27,000 PRSAs were sold during 2004. This compared unfavourably with the 19,000 sold in the second half of 2003, when the initiative kicked off.