The Irish government has finally confirmed that pension auto-enrolment will commence on 30 September 2025, allowing employers to start planning and preparing implementation.
What the Government is doing
The Government is making strides for the September 2025 launch of auto-enrolment and have appointed Tata Consultancy Services as the administrator to the scheme. The National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA) is to be established with effect from 31 March 2025 to oversee the administration and regulation of the auto-enrolment scheme, now named My Future Fund. Procurement of investment managers is due to commence and work is ongoing with payroll providers.
What employers are doing
Employers have to prepare for auto-enrolment from a budgeting, payroll and communications perspective. Additionally, a careful evaluation and decision needs to be made in relation to using any existing plan versus the Governments Auto Enrolment system.
Need for independent advice
Getting independent advice and support is crucial to ensure you consider all options before making the optimal decision for your business. The decision-making process will need to be documented for governance purposes. Understanding the auto-enrolment process will also enable you to consider the tax implications on the business and employees for your decision.
Pension providers are encouraging employers to either enrol all employees in existing pension schemes, or to set up new a pension scheme. This is not without self-interest as they are set to benefit most from this approach. However, employers should not buy into this “one approach fits all” messaging as each employer and employee groupings have distinct needs. Employers should seek independent advice and evaluate all options before taking a decision.
Communication with employees
The Government is soon expected to ramp up its auto-enrolment advertising and information awareness campaigns. We recommend devising a strategy and communicating it to staff in advance of the Government awareness campaign. This will avoid confusion and significantly reduce the number of employee queries around auto-enrolment.
We cannot emphasise enough the importance of a clear, concise, and transparent communication strategy to inform your workforce about your auto-enrolment plan.
Preparation
Employers who fail to start planning early face the risk of running out of time and having to rush decisions to meet the deadline which can have detrimental consequences for the business. Pension providers are going to be extremely busy during the lead up period and will have reduced capacity during the summer months due to employees taking leave.
The introduction of auto-enrolment will shape the pension provision and adequacy for decades to come. Employers will only get one chance to get this right for their organisation and getting independent advice to achieve the best outcome, along with implementing an efficient and transparent employee communication strategy, will be key.
