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.