Irish regulator calls on employers to offer pensions

DUBLIN, Ireland—Irish regulators are warning employers that it is illegal not to offer pensions after finding that more than half the workers in a survey did not have the retirement plans.

The Dublin-based Pensions Board recently found that 51% of the employees it surveyed had not been offered a pension and just 6% of those had asked their employer about a pension.

Brendan Kennedy, chief executive of the Pensions Board, said in a statement that Ireland requires employers to provide "some form of access to a pension" and the requirement is "an important part of our drive to increase private pension coverage in Ireland. The Pensions Board enforces the mandatory access requirement and we regard non-compliance by employers as a serious matter."

The board is sponsoring National Pensions Action Week in Ireland this week and is targeting workers aged 25 to 39 with an advertising campaign on television, radio and outdoors to encourage them to talk to their employers about pensions.