IBEC hopes to create a new multi-million pound pension "superscheme" between the organisation's member-companies and pension providers. IBEC says the scheme would significantly cut costs and remove the burden of pension administration from individual firms.
The scheme involves IBEC companies putting money into one central fund which would then be pooled and invested in several leading pension funds.
An IBEC spokesman said yesterday that it was impossible to estimate the value of the scheme at this stage and he would not reveal how many pension providers were involved in discussions.
ISME has attacked the plan, saying the only company in discussions about the scheme is Irish Life. However, an IBEC spokesman says there is "more than one pension interest" involved.
At a special National Pensions Conference yesterday, the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Mr Ahern, responding to calls for umbrella schemes, said they "seem like a good avenue to explore".
Several professional organisations, for example, the Irish Medical Organisation, already have an umbrella pension scheme.
Mr Eamon Heffernan, chairman of the Government-appointed Pensions Board, said the board's final report would make recommendations on the legal framework for umbrella schemes, but the process was only "at the listening stage" at present.
If widespread umbrella schemes were introduced, they would need to designed on a "uniform basis" to "really cut costs", he said.
Mr Eoghan Hynes, ISME director, claimed Irish Life would end up managing the funds for any IBEC "superscheme", because of "close relations between the two organisations in the past".
IBEC hopes the scheme will enable brokers to be appointed to various companies to assist them in "tailoring schemes to suit their needs.
ISME and IBEC rejected calls from unions, the Irish Association of Pension Funds and the Combat Poverty Agency for a link between pensions and average industrial earnings.
ISME said such a link was "spurious" because the average industrial wage was 40 per cent higher than the level in small and medium enterprises.
IBEC also rejected calls for an increase in the State pension fund: "If the State pension fund increased by 1 per cent of gross national product, as some commentators have suggested, this would be an unimaginable increase of Pounds 400 million in public spending," said a statement.
Several trade union speakers spoke in support of mandatory pension schemes at yesterday's conference. Mr Noel O'Sullivan, from the Retirement Planning Council of Ireland, also called for the appointment of a Pensions Ombudsman.
The Association of Pension Lawyers said any plans to introduce mandatory pension schemes should be approached cautiously.
"Any legislation introducing a mandatory regime would require very careful drafting in light of the Supreme Court's recent decision to strike down the Employment Equality Bill."
The Pensions Board says simpler pension plans, freeing up regulatory and legal structures, cost-effective delivery and a greater emphasis on education are the main demands among the 130" submissions given to the board.
It is to make recommendations to Minister Ahern at the end of the year arising from these submissions.
