Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 February 2026
416. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the State agencies within his Department that have made provision for the pension auto enrolment payment as part of their allocation to funded organisations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14414/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise the Deputy that five of the six bodies under the aegis of my Department are Civil Service Offices, which are staffed by civil servants that are already covered by pension schemes, such as the Single Pension Scheme or the Civil Service pre-existing pension schemes. These are the Office of Public Works, the National Shared Services Office, the Public Appointments Service, the Office of the Ombudsman and the State Laboratory.
The sixth body is the Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery (ORNL) which is funded directly through a levy payable by the operator of the National Lottery and not through the Department. All employees of the ORNL are members of a pension scheme.
The position with regard to organisations that are grant funded by the Department is as follows:
• Transparency International Ireland (TII) receives grant funding from my Department to support the Department’s role in the implementation of the Protected Disclosures Act. The 2026 funding agreement with TII includes a clause that requires that each quarterly request for payment should include a statement of compliance with any legislative obligations regarding pensions.
• The position in respect of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) is as follows:
- Staff of the ESRI are either members of existing ESRI pension schemes or are ‘new joiners’ to the public service, since 2013, and are being enrolled in the Single Public Service Pension Scheme.
- IPA staff are covered by existing pension schemes - the Institute of Public Administration Superannuation (Consolidation) Scheme 2010 and the Single Public Service Pension Scheme.
• The Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) is a North South Implementation Body. My Department is joint sponsor for the SEUPB along with the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland. As a North South Implementation Body, the SEUPB operates under the policy direction of the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) which I jointly sponsor with Minister for Finance Northern Ireland. The staff of the SEUPB are members of the North South Pension Scheme.
