Ireland’s Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024 has secured government approval, and the scheme is expected to begin enrolling members in January 2025.

Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys, presented the bill to the cabinet yesterday, 27 March, where it was approved.

The Department of Social Protection said the bill will be published by 3 April 2024, and “will be brought to the Oireachtas as a matter of priority with a view to enactment by July 2024, with the first enrolments set to happen from January 2025”.

The scheme's introduction has faced several days and has now been confirmed to have been pushed back further, after hopes that it would begin towards the end of this year.

The scheme will be run and managed by a new body set up by the Department of Social Protection and it will be supervised by the Pensions Authority. However, an external administrator tender and an investment manager tender are still to be announced.

The scheme will apply to those aged between 23 and 60 earning more than €20,000 per year, and not currently paying into a work or private pension through payroll – over 800,000 workers are expected to be eligible for enrolment. However, there will be the opportunity to opt out of the scheme.

Contributions into the scheme will start at 1.5 per cent of salary for both the employer and employee in years one to three, increasing to 3 per cent each in years four to six, rising to 4.5 per cent in years seven to nine, before reaching 6 per cent each in 10 years.

The state will also top-up €1 for every €3 a member pays in. Contributions will be calculated up to a maximum gross salary of €80,000. There are no plans currently to allow people to make additional contributions, but the Irish government has not ruled this out for the future.

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