Construction firms shirk pension duty

PENSIONS Ombudsman Paul Kenny yesterday said he was increasingly concerned that construction firms were illegally deducting wages from workers without lodging the funds in the industry’s mandatory pension scheme.

By law, all construction firms must register and pay contributions to the Construction Federation Operatives Pension Scheme (CFOPS) to cover workers and their families in the event of injury or death.

However, as first revealed by the Irish Examiner last year, up to half of all firms were non-compliant with the scheme, often leaving grieving families without death benefits as a result.

In a statement yesterday, Mr Kenny said the number of complaints to his office had risen considerably since the beginning of this year.

While he encouraged those affected to contact his office, he said solving individual complaints was “no substitute for achieving widespread compliance”.

Following last year’s revelations, and subsequent demonstrations by builders, the Pensions Board and the Trade Department hired consultants to investigate, with the report expected to be delivered shortly.

Social and Family Affairs Minister Seamus Brennan this week said construction firms who do not meet pension obligations should not receive State contracts.

According to SIPTU, up to 100,000 construction workers have not registered in the CFOPS scheme by employers.

The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) said just 20,000 members had not been registered and said unions had not made any complaint to the CIF on the issue.

However, last year’s Irish Examiner investigation revealed that CIF members have been frequently involved in incidents of non-compliance, including one firm which was forced to pay up to €500,000 in back payments to the scheme.