The start date for Ireland’s forthcoming auto-enrolment (AE) pension scheme will be confirmed in the Budget 2025, taking place on 1 October, Ireland’s Department of Social Protection (DSP) has confirmed.

The AE pension scheme has faced a series of delays with the language around the launch date remaining ambiguous. In March this year, the DSP told European Pensions the scheme would begin enrolling workers in January 2025, but its most recent statement is more vague, stating only the year, 2025.

However, in a statement, a DSP spokesperson said: “The start date for the first enrolments under AE will be announced as part of Budget 2025.”

The legislation for the scheme, the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Act 2024, has now been passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas and enacted. In addition, Tata Consultancy Services, which administers Nest in the UK, has been selected as the preferred bidder to administer the AE system. Contracts are yet to be signed, however.

“Enacting the legislation and selecting the preferred bidder are two major milestones which will ensure that auto-enrolment will finally become a reality in Ireland in 2025. The department is now working on establishing the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA) and the procurement of investment managers,” the DSP spokesperson said.

However, the Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF), in a pre-budget submission, has criticised the “vague dates” given by the DSP on the launch of the AE scheme, arguing they are “unhelpful and risk undermining AE”.

“We believe that vague dates such as this, which are constantly moved without any formal confirmation, are unhelpful and risk undermining auto-enrolment, which will require widespread understanding and support in order to be a success," the IAPF stated.

"It is also impossible for employers and employees to properly plan for such a vague date. Those employers currently committing time and resources (including implementing changes to employee and pension scheme terms) preparing for an expected launch date of early 2025 will be most affected by further delays."

Therefore, it believes that, given the range of actions that are still outstanding, it is hard to see that auto-enrolment will commence in early 2025.

“We believe it would be helpful for the ultimate success of auto-enrolment if it was confirmed in the Budget that auto-enrolment will not commence in 2025 (or confirm with absolute certainty the date it will commence in 2025), and that a firm date will only be confirmed when a deliverable plan for all the outstanding issues has been agreed,” the IAPF stated.

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