Construction Company directors sentenced to five months imprisonment for deduction and non remittance of pension contributions in a case taken by The Pensions Board

Tuesday 27 September 2011: In Wexford District Court, yesterday, Monday 26 September 2011, Judge Coughlan imposed a custodial sentence of five months imprisonment on Damien Goff and Francis Goff, directors of Goff Developments Limited, in relation to failing to remit pension contributions to the Construction Workers Pension Scheme (CWPS) for the period between November 2008 and December 2009. Both directors were also fined €4,000 with five months to pay. Goff Developments Limited was also convicted and fined €4,000 with five months to pay. Legal costs of €3,200 were also awarded.

Damien Goff and Francis Goff, both with an address of Horetown, Killinick, Co. Wexford are directors of Goff Developments Limited, a company which had deducted pension contributions from the wages and salaries of its employees between November 2008 and December 2009 for remittance to the trustees of CWPS and failed to remit the pension contributions to the trustees within the statutory timeframe under the Pensions Act. Goff Developments Limited was also convicted of the same offence. The pension deductions for that period amounted to €11,781.51.  The Pensions Board carried out an on-site investigation at the company’s premises in this case.

The Judge found that the offences of the company were committed with the consent or connivance of or attributable to neglect on the part of Damien Goff and Francis Goff, as directors of Goff Developments Limited, contrary to the provisions of Section 58A(1) and Section 3 of the Pensions Act, 1990, as amended.

The Pensions Board supervises occupational pension schemes and monitors employers’ compliance with the legislation relating to the collection and remittance of pension contributions.

Commenting on the conviction in this case, the Chief Executive of The Pensions Board, Mr. Brendan Kennedy, said, “This conviction should act as a warning to all employers and company directors that The Pensions Board treats the failure of the employer to remit pension contributions to the trustees of the pension scheme as a very serious offence. The Board is currently preparing prosecutions of a number of other employers and directors. We advise any employer with outstanding pension contributions to immediately contact the pension scheme to regularise their position.”

-Ends-

For Further information:
David Malone
Head of Information
The Pensions Board
Tel (01) 6131900/ 087 6857743

Note to Editors

The Pensions Board

The Pensions Board is the statutory body established by The Pensions Act 1990 to regulate occupational pension schemes, trust based RACs and Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) and to advise the Minister for Social Protection on overall pension policy development. See www.pensionsboard.ie

Under the Act, the Board has power to investigate the state and conduct of Irish pension schemes, and to ensure that trustees, employers, pension administrators and their advisers comply with the obligations they owe to current and former employees in relation to their pension contributions and benefits.

The Board’s powers allow it to conduct on-site visits without notice, seize and copy relevant documents, enter dwellings on foot of a warrant, and to prosecute and or sue any person that contravenes the provisions of the Act.

The Construction Workers Pension Scheme (“CWPS”)

CWPS is an occupational pension scheme approved by the Revenue Commissioners and registered with The Pensions Board.  It was established pursuant to a Registered Employment Agreement (“REA”) on Construction Industry Pensions, Assurance and Sick Pay, which is registered by the Labour Court and was concluded between employers and employee organisations operating in the construction industry.

Under the REA, all employers operating in the construction industry are required to become a party to an approved contributory pension scheme to provide pension and death-in-service benefits to employees. These obligations are discharged by deducting pension contributions from their employees and remitting them to CWPS or another appropriate scheme.

 
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