The Pensions (2005 Order) (Commencement No. 7) Order (Northern Ireland) 2005

Citation and interpretation

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Pensions (2005 Order) (Commencement No. 7) Order (Northern Ireland) 2005.

(2) In this Order—

“the Order” means the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 and any reference to a numbered Article is a reference to the Article of the Order bearing that number;

“pay-as-you-go scheme” means an occupational pension scheme under which there is no requirement for assets to be set aside in advance for the purpose of providing benefits under the scheme (disregarding any requirements relating to additional voluntary contributions).

Appointed days

2.—(1) Subject to Article 3 of this Order, the day appointed for the coming into operation of the provisions of the Order specified in Part 1 of the Schedule—

(a) for the purpose only of authorising the making of regulations, is 6th December 2005, and

(b) for all other purposes, is 30th December 2005.

(2) The day appointed for the coming into operation of the provisions of the Order specified in Part 2 of the Schedule is 9th December 2005.

(3) The day appointed for the coming into operation of the provisions of the Order specified in Part 3 of the Schedule is 1st January 2006.

(4) The day appointed for the coming into operation of the provisions of the Order specified in Part 4 of the Schedule—

(a) for the purpose only of authorising the making of regulations, is 1st January 2006, and

(b) for all other purposes, is 1st April 2006.

(5) The day appointed for the coming into operation of the provisions of the Order specified in Part 5 of the Schedule—

(a) for the purpose only of authorising the making of regulations, is 1st January 2006, and

(b) for all other purposes, is 6th April 2006.

(6) The day appointed for the coming into operation of the provisions of the Order specified in Part 6 of the Schedule is 6th April 2006.

Appointed day for the coming into operation of Article 263 in relation to pre-23rd September schemes

3.—(1) This Article applies to a scheme which is a pre-23rd September 2005 scheme.

(2) Where in relation to a pre-23rd September 2005 scheme—

(a) both an application for authorisation under Article 264 (general authorisation to accept contributions from European employers) and an application for approval under Article 265 (approval in relation to particular European employer) have been made on or before 29th March 2006, the day appointed for the commencement of Article 263 (occupational pension scheme receiving contributions from European employer) is the day after the expiry of the period of five months beginning with the application date;

(b) such applications have not been made on or before 29th March 2006, the day appointed for the commencement of Article 263 is 30th March 2006.

(3) In this Article—

“application date” means—

(a)

the date on which the trustees or managers of the relevant pre-23rd September 2005 scheme make both an application for authorisation and an application for approval under Articles 264 and 265, or

(b)

where those applications are not made on the same day, the date on which the last of those applications is made;

“pre-23rd September 2005 scheme” means an occupational pension scheme—

(c)

which—

(i)

has its main administration in the United Kingdom, and

(ii)

is not a pay-as-you-go scheme, and

(d)

in relation to which—

(i)

the trustees or managers were accepting contributions on 22nd September 2005 from any person who, had Article 263(6) been in operation at that date, would have been a European employer, or

(ii)

any such person was under a liability to pay contributions to the trustees or managers on 22nd September 2005.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Social Development on 5th December 2005.

L.S.

John O'Neill

A senior officer of the

Department for Social Development