PENSIONS WATCHDOG WINS BUILDING FIRM ORDER - Through Galway Circuit Court, Pensions Ombudsman Paul Kenny has given a company a court order to produce its employment records within 21 days. That company is Barnaderg-based 3D Restoration and Construction.
Paul Kenny, Pensions Ombudsman, said he was looking for employment records from the firm because of an allegation that a pension contribution had been taken from wages and not paid into the scheme.
He said the employer ignored the request, forcing him to go to court. It is the first time the Ombudsman has used these powers.
Mr Kenny said the building industry's bad press on pensions compliance was deserved by some companies, who were deliberately avoiding their obligations.
Mr Kenny said some firms did not bother registering workers for pension contributions, while in other cases contributions were not paid. In some cases, firms deducted money from workers and did not pay into the pension scheme, which was effectively stealing.
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G7 MINISTERS GATHER IN GLOOM - Group of Seven finance officials are gathering in Washington for talks to discuss plans to prevent a repeat of what the IMF chief says is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
The meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors comes amid increasingly grim forecasts for the international economic outlook, with worries about a global slowdown and a US recession.