Heather Humphreys, the Minister for Social Protection, has revealed that the Irish government has at last enacted legislation for obligatory participation of employees in a pension scheme. This move, first suggested a quarter of a century ago, is set to facilitate the transition of some 800,000 individuals into a pension system for the initial time.
She acknowledged Ireland as the sole OECD member that has lacked a compulsory pay-connected pension saving plan and highlighted the nation’s considerable delay in establishing sufficient pension coverage. Humphreys anticipates that this new legislation, termed the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System, might be the most considerable reform in the country’s pension structure history.
She went on to express that pension coverage and adequacy are excessively low in the private sector, with a mere third of private sector employees having involvement in a pension plan, and two-thirds heavily dependent on the state pension.
According to the new scheme, individuals must decidedly “opt out” rather than “opt in”, and other countries have seen a minimal number of opt-outs. Employees aged between 23 and 60 earning above €20,000 annually who are presently without a pension plan will be initially included in the scheme. After a compulsory six-month participation period, they will get an opportunity to opt-out or pause their contributions but will be re-enrolled into the scheme after two years unless they arrange an alternative pension plan.
Humphreys emphasised her consciousness towards businesses’ concerns and thus the contribution rates will be introduced gradually over a decade. Employees will initially contribute 1.5% of total earnings, mirrored by employers, and supplemented by the state. Every three years, the rates will augment until reaching a ceiling of 6% from the employee and employer, and an additional 2% by the state by 2034.
However, Sinn Féin has chosen not to support this legislation given their belief that it is a “high risk” boon for the private pension sector and should be under the NTMA’s control.
The Government plans to augment each €3 saved by an employee with an additional €1, resulting in a €7 savings accumulation for every €3 saved when employer contributions are added. With steady contributions for 40 years, an employee on a median income is projected to accumulate approximately €750,000 in savings, as calculated by Ms Humphreys.
A supervisory body, the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority, is set to be founded to oversee this initiative.
The legislation has faced opposition from Sinn Féin, with their social protection spokesperson, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, expressing concern over the viability of its foundational aspects. He fears that the scheme may favour the private pensions industry excessively, thereby jeopardising the future financial security of workers dependent on the auto-enrolment option. Drawing from past experiences during the Celtic Tiger era, he noted substantial disparities between the envisaged and actual returns on investments in pension schemes.
In Mr Ó Laoghaire’s view, the scheme necessitates stringent management to guarantee substantial and worthwhile retirement benefits. He suggests that the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), with its established record of fund management, should be entrusted with handling these funds.
While welcoming safeguard measure assurances from the Minister, Duncan Smith of the Labour party, voiced concern over specific elements of the scheme but remained largely in favour. He sought reassurance that the scheme will supplement rather than replace the State pension.
He cited the 2022 census data which reveals that circa 20% of pensioners, roughly 145,000 individuals, live in income conditions categorised as relatively impoverished.
After the introduction of automatic enrolment in the UK back in 2012, there’s been a substantial transformation in the pension landscape, with coverage rates soaring from 47% to 78%, he further stated.