Occupational Pension Schemes (Member Participation in The Selection of Persons For Appointment As Trustees) Regulations, 1993.
Statutory Instruments
Source: Statutory Instruments

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paragraphs: These Regulations may be cited as the Occupational Pension Schemes (Member Participation in the Selection of Persons for Appointment as Trustees) Regulations, 1993.
2 Definitions.
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paragraphs: In these Regulations—
"the Act" means the Pensions Act, 1990 (No. 25 of 1990);
"the Board" has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 of the Act;
"active member" in relation to a scheme, means a member who is in reckonable service;
"authorised trade union" has the meaning assigned to it by section 54 (6) of the Act;
"alternative arrangement" has the meaning specified in article 8 of these Regulations;
"Chairperson" means a person selected or nominated for appointment as a trustee of the relevant scheme and as Chairperson of the trustees of the relevant scheme in accordance with these Regulations;
"directly invested scheme" means a scheme which, at the commencement of a scheme year, is a scheme other than a scheme which has resources comprised entirely of one or more of the following
( a ) insurance policies,
( b ) contracts of assurance,
( c ) managed funds,
( d ) unit trusts and
( e ) cash deposits
provided that for the purposes of this definition resources shall exclude unpaid contributions which have accrued due to the scheme;
"election" means an election pursuant to these Regulations;
"employer" in relation to a relevant scheme means the employer who undertakes the role of principal employer for the purposes of the relevant scheme's approval by the Revenue Commissioners under Chapter II of Part I of the Finance Act, 1972 ;
"member trustee" means a person selected by qualified members for appointment as a trustee of the relevant scheme under a standard arrangement or a person whose selection is approved by qualified members for appointment as a trustee of the relevant scheme under an alternative arrangement or a person selected to fill a vacancy in accordance with article 16 of these Regulations;
"pensioner member" in relation to a scheme means a member of the scheme who is in receipt of benefits under the scheme;
"person" means a person over 18 years or a corporate body;
"preliminary poll" means a poll held in accordance with article 8 of these Regulations;
"qualified member" in relation to any date means an active member or a pensioner member of the relevant scheme on that date or on such previous date to be decided by the trustees, in any event not earlier than the beginning of that scheme year;
"relevant scheme" means a scheme, other than an external scheme, which is established under a trust and which has not less than 50 qualified members or is a directly invested scheme which has not less than 12 qualified members;
"scheme year", in relation to a scheme, means whichever of the periods specified in section 55 (1) of the Act the trustees select;
"standard arrangement" has the meaning specified in article 8 of these Regulations;
"standard notification" has the meaning specified in article 8 of these Regulations;
"valid candidate" has the meaning specified in article 10 of these Regulations;
"valid nominee" has the meaning specified in article 10 of these Regulations;
"valid request" means (subject to subarticle (1) of article 17) a request in writing to the trustees of the relevant scheme by either:
( a ) one or more authorised trade union or unions representing not less than 50 per cent of active members of the scheme at the beginning of the scheme year in which the request is made, or
( b ) not less than 15 per cent of the qualified members
for a preliminary poll.
3 Commencement.
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paragraphs: These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of January, 1994.
4 Participation in the selection of trustees.
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paragraphs: Qualified members may, if a majority of such members so decide, either
( a ) select, or
( b ) approve of the selection by the employer of,
a person or a specified number of persons who shall be appointed to be, as the case may be, a trustee or trustees of the relevant scheme in accordance with these Regulations.
5 Number of trustees to be selected or approved of.
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paragraphs: (1) The number of persons that may be selected by the qualified members for appointment as member trustees under a standard arrangement shall be two, or one half the total number of trustees (excluding the Chairperson), whichever is the greater.
(2) The number of persons the selection of whom may be approved by the qualified members for appointment as member trustees under an alternative arrangement shall be such number as is agreed by the qualified members in a preliminary poll.
6 Initiation of process.
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paragraphs: (1) Where the trustees of a relevant scheme receive a valid request they shall notify the employer within 14 days of receipt of such request and shall without undue delay appoint a returning officer in accordance with article 7 and shall supply to such returning officer a list of the qualified members.
(2) Where (subject to subarticle (1) of article 17) either the employer:
( a ) receives a notification in accordance with subarticle (1) of this article or in accordance with subarticle (2) of article 17, or
( b ) at any time so decides
he shall direct the trustees either:
(i) to hold a preliminary poll, or
(ii) to proceed to the selection by qualified members of persons for appointment as member trustees in accordance with the standard arrangement (as defined in article 8) by means of an election in accordance with these Regulations
and shall specify the number of persons to be appointed as trustees of the relevant scheme by the employer and, where a preliminary poll is to be held, shall specify in relation to the alternative arrangement the names of those persons whose selection is to be approved by the qualified members for appointment as member trustees, the number of other persons to be appointed as trustees of the relevant scheme and the name of the Chairperson or the procedure for selecting a Chairperson.
(3) The trustees on receipt of the employer's direction under subarticle (2) of this article shall supply the returning officer with a copy of such direction and the returning officer in accordance with such direction shall, either
( a ) proceed to hold a preliminary poll in accordance with article 8 and he shall notify the employer and the trustees in writing of the result of such poll within 30 days of the receipt of the employer's direction, or
( b ) arrange for an election in accordance with these Regulations and shall notify the employer and the trustees in writing of the result of such election within 90 days of the receipt of the employer's direction.
(4) Where the employer has received notification in accordance with subarticle (1) of this article or in accordance with subarticle (2) of article 17 and fails to direct the trustees under subarticle (2) of this article within a period of 60 days the trustees shall instruct the returning officer to proceed directly to an election to select a number of persons for appointment as member trustees, such number to be equal to the number of existing trustees of the relevant scheme, in accordance with these Regulations and shall notify the employer and the trustees in writing of the result of such election within 90 days of the receipt of the trustee's instruction.
7 Returning Officer.
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paragraphs: (1) The person to be appointed as returning officer for the purposes of these Regulations shall be:
( a ) the secretary of the employer, or in case there is no such secretary, the officer of the employer who performs the functions of secretary, or
( b ) in lieu of such secretary or officer, any other person who in the opinion of the trustees of the relevant scheme is competent to perform the functions of returning officer.
(2) A returning officer may perform any of his functions, through or by any other employee of the employer or through or by any other person who, in either case, is duly authorised by him in writing in that behalf.
(3) The returning officer shall not be entitled to be nominated as, or to nominate, a person for selection as a member trustee in accordance with article 10.
(4) The returning officer in his conduct of the preliminary poll and the election shall have regard, inter alia, to such guidance notes (regarding the conduct of preliminary polls and elections), if any, as may from time to time be issued by the Board.
(5) If the returning officer fails, for whatever reason, to carry out his duties in accordance with these Regulations, then the trustees of the relevant scheme shall appoint such other person as they shall decide to carry out the function of returning officer, provided that the appointment of such person has been approved by the Board.
8 Preliminary Poll.
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paragraphs: (1) Subject to article 6 the returning officer shall arrange for the taking of a poll (herein referred to as a preliminary poll) for the purposes of ascertaining whether the qualified members wish to
( a ) select, or
( b ) approve of the selection by the employer of,
a person or a specified number of persons who shall be appointed to be member trustees in accordance with these Regulations.
(2) The ballot paper to be used at a preliminary poll shall enable the qualified member to select one of the following two options:
( a ) a standard arrangement, or
( b ) an alternative arrangement
where a "standard arrangement" means an arrangement whereby
(i) the employer shall nominate a specified number of persons to be appointed as trustees of the relevant scheme (or to be retained as trustees as the case may be) and shall furnish to the returning officer the names of such persons in accordance with subarticle (3) of article 12.
(ii) the qualified members by means of an election held in accordance with these Regulations shall select an equivalent number of persons, being not less than two who shall be appointed as member trustees, and
(iii) the Chairperson shall be selected in accordance with article 13
and an "alternative arrangement" means an arrangement whereby
(I) the employer shall specify the names of those persons whose selection shall be approved by the qualified members for appointment as member trustees and
(II) the employer shall specify the number of other persons who shall be appointed as trustees of the relevant scheme (or who shall be retained as trustees as the case may be) and
(III) the employer shall either nominate the Chairperson, or specify the procedure for selecting the Chairperson.
(3) The returning officer in arranging for the taking of a preliminary poll under subarticle (1) of this article shall arrange to have a standard notification delivered to each qualified member or sent by post in a registered letter addressed to such qualified member at his last known address
where a "standard notification" shall include