A group representing 700 insurance brokers has called on the Government to extend the mandatory access to pensions deadline for employers from next week until December 1st.

The Professional Insurance Brokers Association (PIBA) said yesterday that recent technical changes for the selling of Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) meant more time was needed "to get the system up and running in a proper fashion".

Employers who do not offer a pension scheme or who will exclude employees from a scheme for longer than their first six months of service have until September 15th to provide them with access to a standard PRSA.

Mr Diarmuid Kelly, chief executive of PIBA, said postponing the deadline to December 1st would give intermediaries more time to properly explain the schemes to employers.

Brokers held back from the PRSA market until the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA) streamlined the rules governing their sale in a letter to brokers dated August 1st.

After IFSRA's move, brokers became more interested in pursuing the PRSA market, he said.

However, it is believed that the majority of the 170,000 registered employers have not yet complied with the pensions legislation, just one week before the deadline.

"Employers have been slow to date to tell their workers about the options," Mr Kelly said.

The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Ms Coughlan, said last week that the September 15th deadline would not be moved.

But Mr Kelly said it would happen "by default" without Government intervention, as it was impossible for all employers to appoint a provider in time.