Construction company director sentenced to 200 hours of community service for non remittance of pension contributions in a case taken by The Pensions Board

Friday 26 February 2010: Today, Judge O’Leary sentenced Gerard Walsh, a director of Wave Roofing and Cladding Limited to 200 hours of community service at Court 3, Cork District Court, Anglesea Street, Cork.

The sentence was imposed following the successful prosecution of Gerard Walsh, a director of Wave Roofing and Cladding Limited with an address at 45 Sevenoaks, Frankfield Grange, Douglas, Co. Cork on Monday 14 December 2009 last by The Pensions Board for non remittance of pension contributions to the trustees of the Construction Workers Pension Scheme (CWPS).

In the case heard in December 2009, Judge O’Leary fined Wave Roofing and Cladding Limited €1,000 on each of the 31 charges amounting to €31,000 in total, with 90 days to pay. In relation to the director, Judge O’Leary adjourned the case until today in order that a community service report could be prepared, to assist the Judge in deciding whether to impose 200 hours of community service on the defendant director, or to impose a custodial sentence of four months in respect of the 31 charges to run concurrently.

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 sentence imposed in this case, the Chief Executive of The Pensions Board, Mr. Brendan Kennedy, said, “The sentence imposed today should act as a warning to all employers and 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 contact the pension scheme to regularise their position.”

Please see the fact sheet below.

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For further information:

David Malone
Head of Information
The Pensions Board
Tel (01) 6131900

Jackie Gallagher
Q4 Public Relations
Tel (01) 4751444/ 087 2371838

Note to Editors

Fact Sheet
                                                                       
The case on the 14 December 2009 was heard by Judge O’Leary in Cork District Court, The Courthouse, Anglesea Street, Cork.

Wave Roofing and Cladding Limited, with an address at 45 Sevenoaks, Frankfield, Grange, Douglas, Cork, being an employer within the meaning of section 2 of the Pensions Act 1990 as amended (‘the Act’), deducted sums from the wages and salaries of its employees between June 2006 and December 2008 for remittance to the trustees of CWPS and failed to remit such sums to the said trustees within the statutory timeframe contrary to the provisions of Section 58A(1) and Section 3 of the Act.  

Gerard Walsh, with an address at 45 Sevenoaks, Frankfield, Grange, Douglas, Cork, was a director of Wave Roofing and Cladding Limited, a company which deducted sums from the wages and salaries of its employees between June 2006 and December 2008 for remittance to the trustees of CWPS and failed to remit such sums to the said trustees within the statutory timeframe.  The offences of Wave Roofing and Cladding Limited were committed with the consent or connivance of or attributable to neglect on the part of Gerard Walsh contrary to the provisions of Section 58A(1) and Section 3 of the Act.

Judge O’Leary found the company guilty of 31 offences and found that the offences had been committed with the consent of or connivance of, or were attributable to the neglect of Mr. Gerard Walsh, one of the directors of Wave Roofing and Cladding Limited.

Judge O’Leary fined the company €1,000 on each of the 31 charges amounting to €31,000 in total, with 90 days to pay. In relation to the director, Judge O’Leary adjourned the case to the 26th February, 2010 in order that a community service report could be prepared, to assist the Judge in deciding whether to impose two hundred hours of community service on the defendant director, or to impose a custodial sentence of four months in respect of each of the 31 charges to run concurrently.

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 and Family Affairs, and through him, the Government, 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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