Pension Auto-enrolment is a new pension savings scheme for certain employees who are not paying into a pension. They will be automatically included in the scheme but can opt out after 6 months.

The introduction of the Auto-Enrolment Retirement Savings Scheme, called My Future Fund, will start from 1 January 2026.

Under the scheme, the employee, employer, and Government all pay a certain amount into the employee’s pension fund.

An employee will be automatically enrolled in the new pension scheme if they:

• Are aged between 23 and 60.
• Are not currently part of a pension plan.
• Earn €20,000 or more per year.

If an employee earns less than €20,000 per year, or are not aged between 23 and 60, they can choose to join the pension scheme if they are not already part of a pension plan.

A new public body, the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority, NAERSA, has been set up to administer the auto-enrolment scheme. The scheme is supervised by the Pensions Authority.

• A video webinar regarding the introduction on 1 January of a state-supported Pension Auto-Enrolment Scheme, is available below.
• A Guide to Auto-enrolment is available here.

Further information on the scheme can be found here.