Latest news with #MyFutureFund
Irish Times
10 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Auto-enrolment needs to be more user-friendly for bosses and workers, recruitment firm says
Short-term and seasonal workers should not be dragged into the State's new mandatory workplace pension scheme, a leading recruitment group has said. Excel Recruitment says the Government should use the delay of several months to introduce the My Future Fund auto-enrolment (AE) scheme to make it more user friendly. As planned, anyone aged 23-60 and earning in excess of €20,000 a year will be automatically enrolled in the scheme on day one of their employment. Eligibility will be assessed based on gross earnings over the previous 13 weeks across all employments. 'The current AE design risks dragging short-term or seasonal workers such as those hired for the Christmas period into a scheme that won't meaningfully benefit them, while saddling employers with unnecessary red tape,' Shane McLave, managing director of Excel Recruitment said. READ MORE He is calling on the Government to adopt the UK model where employers may postpone enrolment for up to three months. Employees have the right to opt in with contributions from the employer starting as soon as they do so. 'That way, the right people are enrolled, and employers aren't forced to carry an administrative burden for no reason,' Mr McLave said. He also wants seasonal employees to have the right to opt out in the first month rather than having to wait six months as per the current proposal. 'The success of this scheme will hinge on how it's implemented,' the recruitment firm boss said. 'A rigid, one-size-fits-all system will only lead to confusion, wasted resources and a loss of trust in the scheme.' More broadly, Excel says the latest delay in introducing auto-enrolment signals a worrying lack of readiness. Mr McLave also criticised the State's lack of infrastructure to support employers or workers in understanding AE. 'We're seeing yet another major employment reform being rolled out without the tools and services to support it. There is no regulated advisory body in place to answer workers' questions, and employers are effectively being asked to step into that role without training, legal cover, or authority. That is unacceptable.'
Irish Examiner
20-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Deis plan to emphasise retention of students up to Leaving Cert and beyond
A new government plan will focus on tackling rising absenteeism levels in schools and keeping more students from disadvantaged areas in education to Leaving Cert level and beyond. On Tuesday, education minister Helen McEntee will publish a new Deis plan to focus on "improving the opportunities for children at risk of educational disadvantage". It is understood that the plan will place a major emphasis on retention of students up to Leaving Certificate and improving progression rates to higher education and the world of work, as well as a major focus on school attendance and tackling the rate of absenteeism in both Deis and non-Deis schools. Data from Tusla has shown a dramatic increase in absenteeism in recent years. The latest figures, based on the 2022/23 school year, reveal that over 110,000 primary and 65,000 post-primary students missed 20 or more days during that academic year. This compares to 54,890 primary school pupils and 44,874 post primary students missing 20 or more days before the covid pandemic in 2018/19. There were higher rates of absence and also of student suspensions in Deis schools located in areas of economic disadvantage. In second-level Deis schools, 30.7% of students missed 20 days or more. This compares to 19.5% for non-Deis schools. Ms McEntee will update Cabinet on her work to establish a new Deis+ scheme which will support schools with the highest level of educational disadvantage, particularly in the areas of literacy and numeracy. This includes the establishment of an advisory group with representatives who work with children from areas of high inter-generational disadvantage. 'Dedicated focus' to small businesses Cabinet will also be updated by arts and media minister Patrick O'Donovan on the digitisation of the 1926 census, the first census carried out by the State, while enterprise minister Peter Burke will bring a memo establishing a new small business unit within his department. Government sources said that the unit will mean that small businesses have "a dedicated focus and are recognised and acknowledged across Government, and emphasis is placed on them within the Department of Enterprise". Also at Cabinet, social protection minister Dara Calleary will provide an update on the procurement competition to source investment management providers for the automatic enrolment retirement savings system. Mr Calleary will also update ministers on the recruitment for the positions of board members for National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA), which will oversee the "My Future Fund" that will launch on January 1, 2026, following a recent government decision to delay the scheme. 'Shared history' Meanwhile, Cabinet is set to approve cross-government engagement with the trans-European cultural initiative, 2027 The Year of the Normans - People of Europe. The year-long commemoration in 2027 aims to celebrate "a shared history that has shaped the island of Ireland and Europe". A government statement says that "throughout modern Ireland, the legacy of our Norman heritage can be found in our lands, laws, monuments, and built environment". Participation in the initiative "aims to commemorate and recognise our Norman history, whilst also benefiting tourism and its associated economy". Ireland's participation is being co-ordinated by the National Monuments Service.
Irish Times
05-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Auto-enrolment window still tight despite three-month deferral, says Mercer
Employers have been urged not to long-finger preparations for the introduction of a mandatory workplace pension scheme after the Government announced a three-month delay in its introduction. Caitriona MacGuinness, DC and private wealth leader at Mercer Ireland , said a delay had been widely anticipated in recent weeks after employer groups and payroll service providers had told the Government in a series of meetings in recent weeks that they may not be ready in time for the originally-planned September 30th start date for pension auto-enrolment. 'A common theme emerging from discussions with clients in recent months was that the implications of AE (auto-enrolment) were more complex than originally anticipated,' Ms MacGuinness said. 'The September 30th start date, following so closely after the summer months, was also placing considerable pressure on employers to communicate effectively with employees. The delay now gives some welcome breathing room.' READ MORE However, she warned companies needed to continue to work towards implementation. 'The timeline to the introduction of auto-enrolment remains fairly short, especially when you consider the summer months,' she said. 'I think January 1st is achievable, but there is a lot to do.' The danger is, with the logic of a January 1st start now generally accepted, any further delay would see the whole project put back by a full year. 100 days of Trump: 'It's like The Karate Kid, tax on, tax off, tariffs on, tariffs off' Listen | 42:49 Hitting the new target requires the Government also to move quickly on decisions in its control, like the appointment of investment managers, she said. Auto-enrolment will mean all workers aged between 23 and 60 who earn above €20,000 across one or more employments automatically enrolled in a private pension scheme, called My Future Fund . They will initially pay 1.5 per cent of their gross salary into the fund with that figure matched by their employer and the State adding €1 for every €3 the worker invests. Contributions will rise to 3 per cent in 2029, 4.5 per cent in 2032 and 6 per cent from 2035. Around 800,000 workers across the State are expected to be affected by the move. One of the more difficult challenges is for employers who already operate an occupational pension scheme but who have staff that are not signed up to it – either by choice or because they have not completed a probationary period. Many employers are keen to avoid the cost and administrative burden of running two separate pension schemes. Widening their current arrangements to accommodate all staff is seen as the preferred option, but they cannot force staff who have opted out previously to now join. Ms MacGuinness said the early and extensive communication with employees is essential in such cases. 'Encouragement is the watchword,' she said. 'Some have been very successful in persuading their employees, but there is no standard approach. It depends on the number of holdouts as a proportion of the overall size of the existing scheme.' Employers can either persuade all staff to join the existing scheme as is, adjust the rules of the scheme to permit them to join at the contribution rates that will be mandated under auto-enrolment or set up a parallel option under the centralised auto-enrolment programme. On the challenge of explaining to staff how the scheme will work and its impact on their take-home pay, she said: 'It is complex to explain to employees, but people will become aware of the benefits over time. 'We just have not seen sufficient take-up of employees saving for their futures.' Ms MacGuinness said employers should have made all necessary strategic decisions no later than July of this year with employee engagement completed no later than November to allow for onboarding of staff, especially where they will be joining existing schemes.
Irish Independent
29-04-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
New delay to mandatory pension a ‘bitter pill to swallow' for workers
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions said the 811,000 workers would be impacted by the decision of Social Protection Minister Dara Calleary to push the start date from September this year to next January. The scheme has been planned for 20 years now. Minister Calleary said the commencement of the collection of contributions for the scheme, called 'My Future Fund', was being moved to align the new system with the tax year. He said it is also being delayed to give additional time for payroll providers, especially smaller ones, to ready their systems for the launch. Delaying the introduction of the mandatory scheme will also give additional lead-in time for employers, particularly small and micro businesses, to ensure they can be compliant with the legislation from the start, he said. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) said it was disappointed with the latest delay. It said: 'First, this decision must be viewed in the context of Government decisions taken in the past two weeks. 'The promised 10 days sick pay is to be halved to five days, despite evidence from their own business impact assessment not supporting a row-back, the living wage commitment is to be kicked out for three years, and a decision on the Low Pay Commission recommendation to abolish sub-minimum rates for young workers is to be deferred indefinitely.' ICTU said auto-enrolment has been on the cards for a whole 20 years. And businesses and payroll services providers have already had a 15-month lead-in time from the passing of the legislation, when the details of the scheme were known, and the commencement order was signed a full year in advance of the planned September 30, 2025, start date. ADVERTISEMENT 'Delaying bringing an end to our failed voluntary approach to occupational pensions will be a bitter pill to swallow for the 811,000 workers without a workplace pension and facing their income and living standards plummet in retirement,' the trade union body said. A recent survey of pension advisers, undertaken by leading pension trustees, Independent Trustee Company (ITC), found that three in 10 expected the rollout to be delayed again. They expect it to be postponed by at least another two years. Many of them are also calling on the Government to remove the limits on the amounts that can be saved into pensions through auto-enrolment. This would give people a better chance of saving up an adequate pension through the scheme. The survey of 130 pension advisers found that 8pc expect it to be later than 2028 or 'never' by the time auto-enrolment is rolled out. The new scheme is designed to help over 800,000 workers to begin saving for their retirement. All employees not already in an occupational pension scheme, aged between 23-60 and earning over €20,000 across all of their employments, will be automatically enrolled in the new scheme. It will be gradually phased in over a decade, with both employer and employee contributions starting at 1.5pc and increasing every three years by 1.5pc until they eventually reach 6pc by year 10. The State will top up contributions by €1 for every €3 saved by the employee. This is in addition to the €3 that will also be contributed by the employer. Eligible employees will be automatically enrolled but will have the choice after six months participation to opt-out or suspend participation.
RTÉ News
29-04-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Government confirms delay of pension auto-enrolment
The Government has confirmed that the start date for pension auto-enrolment is to be delayed from 30 September 2025 to 1 January 2026. Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary said the commencement of the collection of contributions for the automatic enrolment retirement savings system, called My Future Fund, was being moved to align the new system with the standard tax year. He said it is also being delayed to give additional time for payroll providers, especially smaller providers, to ready their systems for the launch and to give additional lead-in time for employers, particularly small and micro businesses, to ensure they can be compliant with the legislation from the start. The new scheme is designed to help over 800,000 workers to begin saving for their retirement. All employees not already in an occupational pension scheme, aged between 23 and 60 and earning over €20,000 across all of their employments, will be automatically enrolled in the new scheme. It will be gradually phased in over a decade, with both employer and employee contributions starting at 1.5% and increasing every three years by 1.5% until they eventually reach 6% by year 10. The State will top up contributions by €1 for every €3 saved by the employee. This is in addition to the €3 that will also be contributed by the employer. Eligible employees will be automatically enrolled but will have the choice after six months participation to opt-out or suspend participation. "My Future Fund will help hundreds of thousands of hardworking people in Ireland put money aside for their life after work. It is important that we start on the right foot and bring all stakeholders along with us," Mr Calleary said. "Deferring the collection of contributions for a short period of time is the right decision, acknowledging points raised through the extensive and ongoing consultation work as the operational and payroll systems are being built," he added.
