Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys and Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl were the only Dáil members present on Wednesday night as “historic” legislation on automatic pension enrolment was passed.
Ms Humphreys brought 88 amendments that the Seanad had made to the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill, legislation the Minister said had taken “nearly 30 years to get this far”.
Ireland is the only OECD country that does not yet operate an auto enrolment or similar system of pension savings. The Bill had been debated by the Dáil before moving to the Seanad, which amended it.
Independent TD Michael Healy-Rae was present in the chamber briefly but the balance of the 88 amendments were passed without any debate as Ms Humphreys had no Opposition or Government TDs present to discuss them.
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The Ceann Comhairle congratulated the Minister, her officials and all those who had contributed to bringing the Bill to fruition “after a long gestation period”.
However, he said “it is very disappointing that we are speaking to a chamber that is largely empty and one wonders why there aren’t more members present for something that is of such fundamental importance”.
With no other TDs present the legislation was dealt with in 15 minutes, ending at 8.10pm when all TDs entered the Dáil chamber for the weekly votes.
Under the legislation about 800,000 people aged 23 to 60 currently outside an occupational private pension scheme and earning more than €20,000 will be automatically enrolled in a new system. It aims to ensure that people will not be solely reliant on the State pension on their retirement, the Minister has said. The Government has introduced the legislation in an effort to address what has been called the “pensions time bomb”.
It was estimated last year that 32 per cent of workers aged between 20 and 60 had no pension scheme in place, with almost a quarter of 45-54-year-olds in the same position, meaning hundreds of thousands of people would potentially be entirely dependent on the State pension.
To encourage pension take-up, the Government is making enrolment in a scheme and regular contributions the default position instead of it being something workers have to actively sign up to.
The Minister said she hoped the legislation would be signed by the President “in the near future” and she pledged to have the new system in place next year with auto enrolment gradually phased in over a decade. Ms Humphreys said the plan “has been a key priority” since her appointment as Minister for Social Protection.
“And I’m delighted to finally have this Bill passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas. This is a historic moment as we set up a new retirement saving scheme for generations of Irish citizens to come.”
The legislation also establishes the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority, to administer the system and ensure compliance. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a global organisation, has been selected as the preferred bidder to provide this administration as a managed service, with minimal administrative work for employers.
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