Some 800,000 workers will be brought into a scheme for the first time, but Sinn Féin says NTMA should manage new initiative and not private pensions sector
Some 800,000 workers will be brought into a scheme for the first time, but Sinn Féin says NTMA should manage new initiative and not private pensions sectorMinister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys said the legislation will pave the way for about 800,000 workers to be brought into a retirement scheme for the first time. Photograph: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos
Opening the debate Ms Humphreys said Ireland is the only country in the OECD that does not have some form of mandatory pay-related retirement savings scheme and “has been an outlier in terms of pension coverage for too long, but this is now going to change”.Implementation of the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System legislation is “probably the single biggest reform of the pension system in the history of the State”, she said.
Under the new system people will have to consciously “opt-out” rather than “opt in” and in other countries the numbers opting out are very low. Rates will increase every three years to a maximum rate of 6 per cent each from employee and employer, and 2 per cent from the State from 2034 onwards. Sinn Féin social protection spokesman Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said his party could not support the legislation because they were concerned it was not built on “strong foundations”.
“Our very strong preference is that the NTMA, which is already responsible for managing several funds, including some recently announced by this Government, would be responsible for managing these funds and investing them to the benefit of citizens,” he said.
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