Pension Trustee Knowledge and Understanding in Ireland: What the Pensions Authority Expects

If you sit on the trustee board of an occupational pension scheme in Ireland, or you are a director of a company that acts as trustee, the question is simple to ask and harder to answer: what do you need to know, and how do you show it? This guide explains what the Pensions Authority's own pages say about trustee knowledge, qualifications and training. It is general information, not legal advice, and where the Authority's pages are silent we say so.

One note on wording. The phrase "knowledge and understanding" is common in the pensions world, but the Authority pages we opened use "qualifications and knowledge" and talk about "fit and proper" requirements. We use the Authority's own terms below.

Who this applies to

The Pensions Authority's Code of Practice for trustees is aimed at trustees of funded occupational pension schemes and trust retirement annuity contracts (trust RACs); the Code excludes death-benefit-only and pay-as-you-go schemes. Where a company acts as the trustee, the people who run it are directors in the ordinary company-law sense too, so it helps to understand their wider responsibilities. Our guide to directors' duties in Ireland covers the general company-law side, which is separate from the pensions rules described here.

The law is national, so a scheme sponsored by an employer in Dublin faces the same requirements as one anywhere else in the State.

Three separate ideas that are easy to blur

The Authority's pages deal with three related but distinct expectations. Keeping them apart makes it easier to check your own position.

• A collective knowledge test for the board. The qualifications page quotes the Pensions Act as requiring that the qualifications and knowledge of the trustees together are "collectively adequate" for the scheme. It attributes this to section 59A. We have not checked the amended statute text itself, so confirm the wording there before relying on it.
• A minimum qualification for at least one person. The Code of Practice, as quoted on the qualifications page, says at least one trustee on the board, or at least one director of a sole corporate trustee, must have completed a course listed on the Authority's website as meeting the legislative requirements.
• Training for trustees. The trustee training page says all trustees must receive relevant training within six months of appointment and then at least every two years.

The qualification requirement

The qualifications page lists the courses the Authority accepts as meeting the collective qualification and knowledge requirement. At the time of reading, it named programmes offered by the Irish Institute of Pensions Management, the Institute of Bankers in Ireland, the Law Society of Ireland and the Life Insurance Association. The page does not date the list, and it invites education providers to apply to be added, so the list can change. Check the page itself rather than relying on any summary, including this one.

The page does not mention any exemptions. It also does not say how long a qualification remains valid or how it should be refreshed, so do not assume anything either way.

What the Code of Practice adds

The Code of Practice was published on 18 November 2021, according to the Authority's news item. Its chapter on fit and proper requirements explains that being "fit" means having appropriate qualifications, knowledge and experience, and that for a trustee board this is a collective obligation. "Proper" relates to good repute and integrity and applies to each individual. In the version we read, the Code says that:

• at least one trustee (or one director of a sole corporate trustee) must have completed a listed trustee qualification course, and the Code also sets a requirement of service as a trustee or director of a similar scheme for at least two of the previous three years;
• the Authority prefers that different people meet the qualification test and the experience test, to avoid over-reliance on one trustee or director;
• trustees must undertake trustee training and have a policy for acquiring and maintaining an adequate mix of skills, knowledge and experience;
• trustees must assess the board's skills, knowledge and experience each year, identify gaps, fill them through recruitment or training, and document their conclusions and follow-up actions; and
• trustees must review and document their compliance with the fit and proper requirements on an annual basis.

The Code does not, in the text we read, set the six-month and two-year training timetable. That timetable appears on the Authority's separate trustee training page.

The training requirement

According to the Authority's trustee training page, training must cover three areas: the Pensions Act and its regulations; trustees' duties and responsibilities under pensions law, family law provisions, common law and other relevant legislation; and the effective management of a pension scheme or trust RAC. The page says the Authority supports training by publishing a document on the areas training must cover, FAQs, a register of self-certified trainers and an application form to become a registered trainer. The register linked from the page carries a July 2024 date in its title.

The page shows no "last updated" date, so check it again when you act.

An older compliance alert

The Authority's compliance alert on trustee training, dated 12 April 2018, adds detail on who arranges training. It refers to section 59AA of the Act and says sponsoring employers are to arrange training, that where a company is trustee all of its directors must complete training, and that employers are not required to arrange training for professional trustees or Revenue-approved pensioneer trustees. It says the scheme's annual report must confirm whether trustees received training as required by section 59AA, and advises trustees to keep evidence of completed training because the Authority may ask for it during an audit. The alert says that trustees and employers who do not meet the requirements may be fined, but it gives no amounts in what we read, so we do not quote any. Because it is from 2018, treat it as background and check what the Authority currently says.

The Authority's online course

The Authority's trustee eLearning FAQ (no date shown) says trustees may use the Authority's own course or an approved provider listed on its website. Completing the course requires passing its assessments, a certificate is posted to the address given at registration, and training undertaken is to be included in the scheme's annual report so members can see it. It adds that only the individual can see their results; the Authority receives aggregate data only.

Proving it: records and evidence

The Authority's pages repeatedly point to documentation: annual board skills assessments, documented fit and proper reviews and evidence of training. The pages we read do not prescribe a format or a retention period for training records. A practical approach is to keep one trustee file per person containing the training certificate, the date of appointment, the date of the next training, and a short note of how the board's annual skills assessment addressed any gap. Our guide to CPD record keeping and evidence sets out general habits for keeping training evidence that you may find useful here, although it is about professional-body CPD rather than trustee rules.

A practical checklist (our suggestions)

The following are our suggestions, not requirements from the Authority:

• List every trustee or corporate trustee director, their appointment date and their last training date.
• Check the Authority's current course list and confirm that at least one person holds a listed qualification.
• Diary the next training date for each person, working back from the six-month and two-year points on the Authority's page.
• Run and minute the annual board skills assessment, noting gaps and the actions agreed.
• Confirm the annual report states what training was received.
• Re-read the Authority's trustee training and qualifications pages at least once a year, since programmes and lists change.

Other changes in the background

The Authority's IORP II page says the EU directive was transposed into Irish law through the European Union (Occupational Pension Schemes) Regulations 2021, which it says introduced significant additional obligations for trustees. It lists the Code of Practice among its resources. If your organisation is also preparing for the separate employer duties around auto-enrolment, our guide to auto-enrolment and MyFutureFund covers that topic; it is a different regime from occupational scheme trusteeship.

Learnsignal's offices are off Baggot Street in Dublin, and we offer in-person training from there. For current details, see our CPD pages.

Frequently asked questions

Does every trustee need a formal qualification?

The pages we read say at least one trustee on the board, or at least one director of a sole corporate trustee, must have completed a listed course. They frame the knowledge requirement collectively for the board, and separately require training for all trustees.

How often must trustees train?

The Authority's trustee training page says within six months of appointment and then at least every two years. The Code of Practice, as we read it, requires training and a policy but does not repeat that timetable.

Who arranges and pays for training?

The 2018 compliance alert says sponsoring employers must arrange training and that the annual report must state whether training costs were met from scheme resources. Check the current position with the Authority.

What evidence should we keep?

The 2018 alert advises trustees to keep evidence of training because the Authority may request it in an audit. The pages do not set a retention period, so decide one and record it in your trustee policies.

Trustee duties rest on current Authority guidance and the law as amended, so confirm the up-to-date position on the Authority's website, and take professional advice for your scheme.