"is this true or is there any way around it?"
I don't do divorce work (much) so you would need to check this with your own solicitor, but if the sums involved are substantial, and your former spouse is not already maxing out his\her pension (AND is co-operative) there is effectively a way around it. Your partner could divert some of the maintenance payment into a PRSA, and a Pension Adjustment Order could be made in court allocating this PRSA solely to you. There is going to be a transaction cost to getting this done (four figures- I would guess perhaps €4k for both sides, but it could be more), so the sums need to be large enough to make it worth while.