Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 January 2026
693. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of employees enrolled in the MyFutureFund pension scheme by band of total number of employees per employer (details supplied), in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5803/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra694. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Social Protection the percentage of employees who have been enrolled in MyFutureFund, by band, of total number of employees per employer (details supplied), in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5804/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra695. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Social Protection the number and percentage of public sector workers who have been enrolled in the MyFutureFund pension scheme, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5805/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 693, 694 and 695 together.
The Programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce the Automatic Enrolment (AE) Retirement Savings System. The aim of introducing AE is to address the pension coverage gap that exists in Ireland and to provide workers with access to a quality assured retirement savings scheme, thereby giving greater comfort and security regarding their retirement income.
The new system - known as My Future Fund - commenced on the 1 January 2026. Over 763,000 employees that weren't actively contributing to a qualifying pension or PRSA through payroll were eligible and were automatically enrolled in My Future Fund. These employees work for approximately 103,000 employers. The scheme is managed by a new statutory body, the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA), which operates under the aegis of my Department.
Data on the number and percentage of employees enrolled in My Future Fund by the number of employees per employer is not yet available at this very early stage in the project as work is ongoing to refine the methodology to interrogate the data and produce reports.
Data on the business sector is available and indicates that 1,346 participants in My Future Fund work in the category "Public administration and defence; compulsory social security", which can be used as a proxy for public sector workers. Using data from the Public Service Numbers databank and uprated to allow for growth in 2025, there are currently about 415,000 employees working in the public sector. On this basis, the percentage of public sector workers who have been enrolled in the My Future Fund is 0.003%.
I hope this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
