In the 2022, 2023, and 2024 surveys, questions on awareness of and interest in partaking in the Government's planned Auto Enrolment Retirement Savings Scheme were included in the survey questionnaire. The planned Government scheme is due to commence in September 2025.
Under this scheme, workers who do not have an occupational pension will be automatically enrolled in a new retirement savings scheme if they are aged between 23 and 60. The employer and the State will also contribute to the retirement savings scheme on their behalf. More information on this planned Government scheme is available in the Background Notes.
These questions on the Auto Enrolment Retirement Savings Scheme, were asked only of respondents who had no occupational pension cover from their current employment.
The planned retirement savings scheme only applies to persons aged between 23 and 60. However, all respondents aged 20 to 69 years who do not have occupational pension coverage from their current employment, were asked about their awareness of the planned retirements savings scheme.
- Of workers with no occupational pension from their current employment, almost three in ten (28%) were aware of the Government’s planned Auto Enrolment Retirement Savings Scheme, an increase of ten percentage points on the same period in both 2022 and 2023.
- Analysis by age group shows that males were marginally more aware of the scheme than females – 28% of males with no current occupational pension cover had heard of the planned Government scheme, compared with 27% of females. There was an increase in awareness of the Government scheme across all age groups, but males aged 45 to 54 years were most aware of the scheme (36%).
- More than three in ten (31%) Irish nationals had heard of the Auto Enrolment Retirement Savings Scheme, an increase of eleven percentage points on the same period in 2023. This compares with just more than one in six (16%) non-Irish nationals.
- Full-time workers who were working in medium sized organisations (with 11 to 19 employees) but had no occupational pension cover form their current employment, were most aware of the planned Government retirement savings scheme – 35% of these workers had heard of the scheme. By comparison, just less than one in eight (13%) of persons working part-time in medium sized organisation (with 20 to 49 employees) were aware of the planned retirement savings scheme.
- Of respondents who are eligible to be auto enrolled in this planned retirement savings scheme (aged between 23 and 60 with no occupational cover from their current employment), almost three in ten (29%) were aware of the scheme, compared with over one in five (21%) employees who were not eligible for the scheme (aged less than 23 or 60 years and over but can self-enrol in the scheme) but were aware of it.
- Of respondents who are eligible to be auto enrolled in this planned retirement savings scheme (aged between 23 and 60 with no occupational cover from their current employment), and were aware of the scheme, over seven in ten (72%) said that they would stay in the scheme if automatically enrolled in it, unchanged from 2023. See Tables 7.1 & 7.2 and PxStat Tables for comparisons with previous years.
Table 7.1 Employees who do not have an occupational pension scheme by their awareness of the auto enrolment scheme, Q3 2024
Table 7.2 Employees who do not have an occupational pension scheme (but to whom the scheme applies) who have heard of the auto enrolment scheme by their willingness to remain if opted into the scheme, Q3 2024
- Over three quarters (78%) of employees who were aware of the planned Government retirement savings scheme and are eligible for it and would stay in the scheme if auto enrolled in it, had said that the reason for their not having occupational cover from their current employment was that their employer did not offer an occupational pension scheme. See Table 7.3.
Table 7.3 Employees who do not have an occupational pension scheme (but to whom the scheme applies) who have heard of the auto enrolment scheme by their reason for not having occupational pension cover, Q3 2024
Workers who are outside the age range for auto enrolment in the scheme, can opt-in to the scheme. Respondents in this age range (20 to 22 years or 60 to 69 years) were asked if they were likely to opt-in to the scheme.
- Of workers to whom the scheme does not apply (workers with no occupational pension and outside of 23 up to 60 age range), almost four in ten (38%) said that they would opt-in to the scheme, an increase of five percentage points on the same period in 2023. Of such employees who are not automatically eligible to be enrolled in the scheme (but can opt in to the scheme), four in ten (40%) of employees with no occupational pension cover in their current employment, said that their current employer does not offer an occupational pension scheme, but they would opt-in to the Government scheme. See Table 7.4 and PxStat Tables for comparison with 2023.
Table 7.4 Employees who do not have an occupational pension scheme by whether or not they have heard of auto enrolment and their interest in it, Q3 2024