Pensions Auto-Enrolment

Auto-enrolment is a new Government initiative which is now planned to go live on 01/01/2026. The scheme aims to increase pension savings for Employees by ensuring they are automatically enrolled into a pension scheme through their Employers. The aim of this initiative is to reduce peoples reliance on the State Pension when they reach retirement

People earning more than €20,000 per year and who are aged between the 23-60 bracket who don’t already have a pension scheme will be automatically enrolled. People who fall outside those parameters can also opt in, as long as they don’t already have a pension scheme.  

It will be phased in gradually over a decade with employer and employee contributions increasing every three years until both contribution types reach 6% respectfully from year 10 onwards. The State will also top up contributions by €1 for every €3 saved by the employee, up to a maximum of €80,000 of earnings.

The scheme is voluntary for employees, and they will have the option of opting out after six months, but employers will not. Employees will automatically be re-enrolled every two years.