BoI defends new pensions scheme
Bank of Ireland has rejected complaints from the Irish Bank Officials Association about its pension arrangements for new staff from the start of this October.
The bank described the new arrangements as “progressive, responsible and providing long-term security for both employees and the pension fund”.
Existing employees will not be impacted by the new scheme and will retain their existing pension scheme.
The new scheme comprises a retirement capital account and an optional personal investment account.
Under the scheme, the bank and the employee contribute to a fund (employee contribution is 2.5%), the bank protects the fund against investment underperformance and, at retirement, the employee uses the fund to purchase retirement benefits.
The optional element of the scheme is a matching defined contribution scheme, with the bank matching employee contributions of up to 3%.
Bank of Ireland is the first company to introduce such a scheme in Ireland. It has already been introduced by a number of employers in the UK, including Barclays and House of Fraser.
