Pensions are high on the agenda at the moment, with yesterday’s victory for former Waterford Crystal staff proving how costly the whole business can be if you emerge on the wrong side at the end.

It’s no secret that the pensions industry is in a bit of flux at the moment as deficits swell, but the expectations of would-be retirees don’t shrink at the same time.

One sign of the times came this week with news of Aviva’s closure of its Irish defined- benefit plan – the insurer will shut to further accrual at the end of this month, with staff to transfer to a defined contribution structure.

The final nail in the DB plan's coffin came when its closure was backed by the Unite trade union, whose members voted 93 per cent in favour of consigning it to history.

Last to leap
Worthy of note is that Aviva Ireland was the last of the group's subsidiaries to take the leap.

Research last year from the Irish Association of Pension Funds shows that 70 per cent of its members had already closed their DB schemes more than 12 months ago, with a further 10 per cent saying it was “likely”.