Our People
Brian Buggy is singled out as a“proactive and effective negotiator."
Employment: European Legal 500 2011
Brian Buggy is commended for his "clear and unambiguous advice."
European Legal 500 2010
Sources say Brian Buggy practises "at the cutting edge."
Chambers Europe 2010
Endorsed by PLC Cross Border Labour Handbook 2010/2011.
Brian Buggy is the major figure in the firm's pensions team and a widely respected player in the market: "You get a highly personalised service with him,' commented one client, 'and he always makes the time for his clients."
Chambers Europe 2009
Brian Buggy is a "leading pensions specialist" and clients particularly recommend him for "interpretation of complex new pensions legislation."
European Legal 500 2009
Winning particular praise for his technical expertise, Brian Buggy is "approachable, quick and responsive." Clients appreciate his "flexible, polite and client-focused" approach: "We get the information we need when we need it, and he's always there when you want him."
Chambers Europe 2008
Brian Buggy provides "strong specialist knowledge" and is commended for his "extensive industry knowledge."
European Legal 500 2008
Brian is also recognised as a leading lawyer by international legal directory, PLC Which Lawyer.
Expertise
Brian is a partner and a member of the Employment Pensions and Benefits Group at Matheson Ormsby Prentice. He has extensive experience in many areas of pensions and employee benefits law, with particular emphasis on employee benefit structures, establishment of employee benefit schemes, legislative drafting, establishment of revenue approved pension schemes, pensions regulatory compliance, pensions trusteeship issues and the establishment of revenue approved employee share ownership plans for public sector companies.
Brian acts for a wide range of national and multinational employer companies, Government Departments, state bodies and trustees of pension schemes. He has advised on numerous large commercial transactions involving transfer of employees and has extensive experience of complex documentation and benefits issues that arise in such transactions. He has extensive experience of working with public sector companies on establishment of share plans for employees.
Brian was appointed by the Minister of Social and Family Affairs as a member of the Pensions Board (the statutory body which regulates occupational pension schemes in Ireland). He was a member of the Pensions Board in the period 2000-2005. Brian is a former Chairman of the Association of Pension Lawyers in Ireland. He is a representative member of the Irish Association of Pension Funds, an associate member of the UK Association of Pension Lawyers (APL) and a member of the International Pensions and Employee Benefits Lawyers Association (IPEBLA). Brian is a member of the IFSC Pension Funds Working Group established by the Department of the Taoiseach.
He is joint author of Irish Pensions Law & Practice (2 ed) (2005), a comprehensive textbook on the subject. The second edition of that work was published in November 2005. He has participated as speaker in seminars, both in Ireland and overseas, on pensions and employee benefit issues. He is a contributor on pension and employee benefit issues to periodicals, professional journals and newspapers.
Education
University College Dublin, BCL
Highlights
Brian has advised:
- Endesa S.A. on its acquisition of a significant portfolio of assets including more than 1GW of thermal generating plant from ESB including advising with respect to all pensions issues arising in connection with that transaction
- NTR on all pensions issues in connection with the acquisition of Irish Broadband by Imagine Communications Group
- Hibernian Group (now Aviva) on all pensions aspects of its acquisition of VIVAS Health
- the Department of Social and Family Affairs in respect of the drafting of legislation and regulations for Personal Retirement Savings Accounts
- the Department of Social and Family Affairs with respect to the legislation implementing the EU Pensions Directive (Directive 2003/41/EC) (the IORPS Directive)
