This week, the first opt-out window opened for Ireland’s auto-enrolment retirement pension scheme.
Auto-enrolment was introduced in Ireland in January of this year. Anyone who was aged between 23 and 60, who earned €20,000 or more per annum across all employments and did not have existing supplementary pension coverage was automatically enrolled into the retirement savings scheme.
For those auto-enrolled on 1 January 2026, the first available time to opt out of the scheme opened on 1 July 2026 and the window will remain open until the end of August this year.
It is estimated that over 800,000 have been enrolled in the scheme and it is difficult to assess how many will choose to opt out of it. However, international evidence suggests that the vast majority of workers will choose to remain in the scheme. In the UK, for example, around 10% of workers opt out from the scheme.
Auto-enrolment represents a major shift in Irish policy designed to increase pension cover for private sector workers. Before the scheme was introduced about a third of private sector workers did not have pension coverage outside of the State pension.
The Institute advocated for and welcomed the introduction of auto-enrolment and has worked extensively to ensure the scheme works as effectively as possible. Our SME Business Sentiment survey in partnership with GRID Finance found that for almost half of respondents (49%), implementation has either been relatively seamless or has not caused any significant issues for their business. While increased labour and business costs were the most cited impact (24%), the overall findings point to a broadly workable introduction for many employers.
In addition, the retail investment environment facing workers and households in Ireland remains challenging as the availability of products and the complex and overburdensome tax treatment has disincentivised individuals from investing and creating wealth over their lifetime.
The Institute welcomes the planned introduction of Personal Investment Accounts to Ireland and has consistently called for the removal of the ‘deemed disposal’ provisions for retail investors in regulated investment funds which unfairly penalises people who are investing.
For further details please see our Pre-Budget 2027 Submission here.
LOADING...