Construction company director pleads guilty to 31 charges for non remittance of pension contributions in a case taken by the Pensions Board

The case was heard by Judge O’Leary in Cork District Court, The Courthouse, Anglesea Street, Cork. 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 supervises occupational pension schemes and monitors employers’ compliance with the legislation relating to the collection and remittance of pension contributions.

Commenting on the prosecution, the Chief Executive of the Pensions Board, Mr. Brendan Kennedy, said, “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 has a responsibility to ensure that pension contributions are remitted to the trustees of pension schemes and regards non-compliance in this regard as a serious matter.

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:

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

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.

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The Pensions Board

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Source: The Pensions Board Website - 14/12/10