The start of 'My Future Fund', the Government's new pension auto-enrolment scheme, is just weeks away and employers are being urged to act now with important dates looming.
The November 2025 payroll is the final deadline to have eligible employees signed up to a pension scheme to avoid workers being enrolled automatically in the new system.
Employers will be able to register on the My Future Fund portal from 1 December.
My Future Fund
The start date for pension auto-enrolment was originally 30 September but was delayed to 1 January 2026.
The Government said it changed the date to align the new system with the standard tax year and to give additional time for payroll providers to get their systems ready.
That time is now running out.
The My Future Fund is designed to help over 800,000 workers to begin saving for their retirement.
All employees not already in an occupational pension scheme, aged between 23 and 60 and earning over €20,000 across all of their employments, will be automatically enrolled in the new scheme.
It will be gradually phased in over a decade, with both employer and employee contributions starting at 1.5% and increasing every three years by 1.5% until they eventually reach 6% by year 10.
The State will top up contributions by €1 for every €3 saved by the employee. This is in addition to the €3 that will also be contributed by the employer.
Eligible employees will be automatically enrolled but will have the choice after six months participation to opt-out or suspend participation.
According to the Government, Ireland is the last OECD country to have a scheme like this.
It comes as our ageing population faces a pensions timebomb.
Right now, there are four workers for every person over 66 but by 2050, there will be only two.
More than 800,000 people have no pension other than the State pension, which is about €16,000 a year compared with the average industrial wage of €45,000.
That means a big section of the population is currently facing a massive income drop when they retire.
My Future Fund is about closing that gap.
A new body, the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA), has been establish to run the sceme.
Look back period
There is a 13-week look back period for pension auto-enrolment.
That means that NAERSA will be looking at payroll information from this current period.
If it does not see any contributions to a pension scheme, then eligible employees will be auto-enrolled in the new system.
"If you are not on your payroll profile showing a contribution either from yourself or your employer into a pension scheme, and you will be auto-enrolled," said Aoife McFadden, Legal Director at Ibec.
"We are currently in the net time of this 13-week look back period and the Department has acknowelged that the latest payroll will be November's to capture the eligibility of whether or not someone will be auto-enrolled."
"That is why there's a lot of talk at the moment around this 13 week look back period, with employees and employers looking at membership of occupational pensions scheme so that people don't join auto-enrolment," Ms McFadden said.
Cost and administrative burden
Numerous reports over the last year have highlighted that many businesses are worried about the costs and administrative burdens associated with pension auto-enrolment.
The new scheme was ranked as one of the top concerns in a recent Ibec survey of HR professionals.
Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary has insisted that the system has been designed to keep employer administration to a minimum.
"The National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority will handle the bulk of this work," Mr Calleary said.
"That includes identifying and enrolling eligible employees, managing opt-ins, opt-outs and suspensions, calculating contributions, and notifying employers of amounts due through payroll," he added.
Ibec's Aoife McFadden said they are seeing concern and panic among some employers when it comes to the administration of the scheme.
"The administration will be managed by NAERSA," she said.
"I think there is less administration to be done by employers than initially perceived and that's a really important message to get out at the moment, it's not too late to get organised."
"Registering on the employers portal that opens in December will be the lions share of the work done on the administration front if that is coupled with a good communication strategy with employees who are eligible for auto-enrolment based on their January payroll."
"Communication is essential in these next few weeks, so employees are informed and aware that if they are eligible their payslip is going to show a deduction in January," Ms McFadden said.
Online portal
Companies can register as an employer on the portal through the My Future Fund website between 1 December and 31 December.
NAERSA will take payroll data from Revenue and run eligibility checks.
When it has identified an employee as meeting all of the eligibility criteria, NAERSA will enrol them and send an updated Automatic Enrolment Payroll Notification (AEPN) to their employer's payroll to notify them of their enrolment.
Stephen Gillick, Partner and Head of Pensions at Mason Hayes & Curran, said the scheme represents "the most significant change to Ireland’s pension landscape in decades".
"Employers now have a defined timeframe and a clear set of obligations," Mr Gillick said.
Businesses are being advised to register early to avoid year-end bottlenecks; confirm that their payroll providers are ready; and communicate with staff about the new scheme.
"Early preparation will make the transition smoother and help employers demonstrate compliance and good governance from day one," he added.
The Government has said success of the new scheme would mean auto-enrolment becoming part of normal working life.
"In ten years’ time, I want My Future Fund to be as familiar as PRSI: something every worker recognises as part of planning for the future," Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary recently said.
In the more immediate future, the Government will be judged on how the rollout of the scheme is handled, as it takes a major step towards trying to defuse our looming pensions timebomb.
