The monitoring agency for the construction industry's pension scheme has set up a review into its operations following mounting criticism from workers on building sites.
It is expected to make an initial report within six months.
A spokesman for the Construction Industry Monitoring Agency (CIMA) said yesterday he accepted the agency was not giving value for money and that a review was now necessary. However, he added there had been significant improvements in the scheme's coverage recently.
Provisional figures show that about 38,000 building workers are now covered by the scheme, compared with 35,595 in April 1999; 31,050 in April 1998 and 24,916 in April 1995. About 160,000 people are employed in the construction sector, but the agency believes only about 60,000 are eligible for coverage by the Construction Federation Operatives' pension scheme.
The spokesman did not dispute figures published in The Irish Times last month, which showed it cost £149,911 more to ensure compliance by employers with the pension scheme than was generated in extra pension contributions. These figures were based on an "Income versus Cost Report" carried out by the agency in the 10 months to April 1999.
He refused to disclose the findings from a subsequent CIMA report, but did not deny this showed a similar trend, with costs significantly exceeding extra revenue. The agency was not a commercial operation and its job was to ensure that people employed directly on building sites were in the scheme, he added.
"If you are asking are we getting value for money, the answer at the moment is a very big no."
The spokesman said one reason why the review was only taking place now was that CIMA had only been put on a permanent footing in the past three years. It now had the administrative capacity to monitor its operations.
He declined to comment on changes introduced by trade unions operating the scheme in late 1995. For every building worker introduced to the scheme the monitoring agency is invoiced for £350.
All sums are paid to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, he said. He said it was a matter for the unions how those funds were allocated.
The Dublin Alliance of General Construction Operatives has been calling for a reform of CIMA. It says the present system is too costly and inefficient.
At present every worker in the pension scheme contributes 25p a week to pay for its activities and employers pay another 25p for each employee. The alliance wants a new system requiring employers to produce a pension certificate for each employee, similar to tax clearance certificates.