May 2024

Introduction of Auto-Enrolment in Ireland, is set to be the biggest development in pensions in a generation

The much-heralded introduction of Auto-Enrolment in Ireland, is set to be the biggest development in pensions in a generation. Targeted directly at increasing the proportion of private sector workers with pension savings, Ireland will be following in the footsteps of several other countries including Australia, New Zealand and the UK, where the auto-enrolment model is already well established. In fact, Ireland is the last OECD country to introduce Auto-Enrolment (AE). By adopting a proven blueprint, it is reasonable to anticipate...

February 2024

Ireland. The Two Main Reasons People Don’t Have A Pension

More than two-thirds of workers have some form of pension coverage outside of the State pension, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has said. Of the 68% of workers aged 20-69 with additional pension coverage, 70% have an occupational pension, 10% have a personal pension and 20% have both, including 22% of men and 19% of women. For employees with occupational pensions from their current employment, the number with 'defined benefit' pensions decreased in 2023 from 32% to 30% while the number with 'defined...

June 2023

The Irish pension landscape for employers in 2023

Pension provision for staff is a valuable recruitment and retention tool for employers. Pensions can be a core part of a benefits and reward package offered. When there are labour or skills shortage affecting your hiring capabilities, this can be a meaningful part of your offering to ensure you are competing with top employers for talent. IORP II The IORP II Directive “sets common standards by ensuring the soundness of occupational pensions and better protecting pension scheme members and their beneficiaries.” Employers...

February 2023

Ireland. Majority expect to have to rely on the State pension when they retire

MOST workers expect to have to rely on the State pension when they retire. Some 57pc of workers say the State pension will be their main source of income. The State pension was cited as the expected main source of income on retirement for nearly six in ten workers with no pension coverage, Central Statistics Office research has found. The Government is planning to bring in an auto-enrolment pension scheme to supplement the State pension for thousands of workers who have no...

January 2023

Ireland. Employers call for rethink on contributions to mandatory workplace pension

Employers’ group Ibec is calling for changes to planned legislation that will put mandatory workplace pensions in place. Contribution levels to the proposed auto-enrolment pension scheme should be looked at again, with competitiveness and affordability reviews completed before contributions are increased from their entry level, Ibec executive Fergal O’Brien will tell an Oireachtas committee on Wednesday. The scheme foresees employers and workers each putting 1.5 per cent of the employee’s gross salary into the scheme at the outset, with the figure...

Ireland. Fears Pensions Gender Gap Will Worsen

Proposals by the Government for an auto-enrolment pension scheme will leave women worse off and "widen the pensions gender gap", an Oireachtas committee will be warned today. The scheme is designed to tackle Ireland's severely low pension coverage rates, with only one in three private sector workers signed up to a retirement savings scheme. Under the proposals, for every €3 saved by a worker, the Government will add another €1 - with employers also matching contributions of up to 6% of...

Ireland. Govt urged to introduce pension auto-enrolment ‘as quickly as possible’

The Pensions Authority is expected to tell the Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection today that the Government should introduce pension automatic enrolment as quickly as possible. In October, details of the new auto-enrolment scheme were approved ahead of its expected introduction in 2024. Workers aged between 23 and 60 will be automatically signed up to a pension plan co-funded by their employer and the State but they can opt out if they wish to leave. The plan is for employees who are...

Pension Fund Statistics – Q3 2022

By Central Bank of Ireland Total assets of the Irish pension fund sector fell by 2.5 per cent (€3 billion) over Q3 2022 to stand at €117 billion. This continues a trend across the year to date with assets down 14.9 percent on the series high of €137 billion at end-2021. Technical reserves relating to pension entitlements of Irish pension funds decreased in Q3 2022. 1 Defined contribution (DC) technical reserves fell as a result of falls in corresponding asset values. Defined benefit...

October 2022

Ireland. Government Pushes Ahead With Pension Auto Enrolment

The government has approved the details of its new pension auto-enrolment scheme in what Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys described as a "generational reform" of the Irish pensions system. The General Scheme of the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System has now been referred to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection for pre-legislative scrutiny. If passed into law, the scheme will require workers to pay into a voluntary workplace pension scheme, co-funded by their employer and the state on an...

September 2022

Ireland to increase state pension for those who work beyond 66

Ireland will offer anyone over 66 a higher state pension the longer they stay in work, sidestepping a recommendation by a government-appointed commission to gradually increase the retirement age to 68 to help fund the ageing population. Under the proposed flexible model agreed by ministers on Tuesday, people will have the option from 2024 to continue working up until the age of 70 in return for a higher pension for each additional year they work. The state pension currently stands at...