Introduction of Automatic Enrolment (“My Future Fund”) for Private Pensions (2024–2025)

Launch Timeline: The Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024 was published on 5 April 2024​ and is expected to be enacted shortly. The government has set a start date of 30 September 2025 for the first enrollments and contributions. A new statutory body, the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA), will be established by March 2025 to administer the system and oversee its implementation. This gives employers and administrators time to prepare over 2024–2025. The Minister called AE the single most significant pension reform since the State Pension’s introduction in 1908​, underlining its importance.

Who Will Be Enrolled: Employees aged 23 to 60, earning over €20,000 per year, and not already in a workplace pension will be automatically enrolled in the new scheme.  It’s estimated about 750,000–800,000 private sector workers who currently have no personal or job-based pension will be included from 2025​. Enrollment is automatic, but individuals can opt out after a minimum period if they choose (with re-enrollment at a later date, as per the scheme rules). The goal is to ensure most workers start saving for retirement by default, closing the coverage gap (currently only ~35% of private workers have a pension)

Contribution Structure: Auto-enrolment contributions will be split between the employee, employer, and the State. The design mirrors a matching scheme: for every €3 the worker contributes, an additional €4 is added to their retirement fund (€3 from the employer and €1 from the State)​.  In other words, the employee’s contributions are matched 1:1 by their employer, and the government tops it up by a further 33% – meaning a €3 personal contribution results in a total of €7 saved. Contributions will start small and phase in over a decade to ease the burden: beginning at 1.5% of gross earnings from employees (and 1.5% from employers) in 2025, then gradually rising every three years until reaching a maximum of 6% each from employer and employee (with 2% from the State) by 2034. This gradual ramp-up allows both workers and businesses to adjust and budget over time

Administration and Funds: The scheme will be centrally administered by NAERSA, which will collect contributions and invest them on employees’ behalf from 2025. The fund options and investment managers will be competitively selected (a procurement process is underway) The default program name “My Future Fund” is intended to be simple and emphasize that the savings are the worker’s own private retirement pot​. By pooling a large number of savers, the system aims to achieve low fees and professional investment management. Workers will be able to see their account grow through annual statements, and portability will allow them to keep the same fund if they change jobs.

Impact for Near-Retirees: Auto-enrolment is primarily designed to improve the long-term retirement security of younger and mid-career workers, but it will also affect some people nearing retirement. If you are in your 50s or early 60s without a pension, starting in late 2025 you’ll be enrolled into My Future Fund (provided you’re under 60 at that point) and will begin accumulating savings. While a person retiring say in 5 years (e.g. around 2030) won’t have decades of contributions, they could still benefit from a few years of employer-matched savings plus state top-ups. Even a short period of contributions can grow your retirement nest egg, since every €1.50 you contribute will be doubled by employer and State contributions (you put in 1.5%, but 3.5% of your salary in total goes into your account initially, rising to 8% total by 2030). This can supplement your State pension with an extra private income when you retire. For those already close to retirement or over 60, the direct impact is limited – you may retire before AE kicks in or before contributions accumulate – but the broader aim is to ensure future retirees are far less likely to be solely dependent on the State pension.

The government emphasizes that automatic enrolment will foster a culture of retirement saving and “protect our workers, particularly our young people, in their retirement years”​gov.ie. In short, people planning to retire in the next five years should be aware of AE as a new source of retirement savings (if eligible), and employers will need to prepare for their role in the scheme. Overall, this reform should improve the adequacy of pensions over time and is a cornerstone of Ireland’s pension policy going forward

Reference: GOV.IE