Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 18 January 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection

General Scheme of the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Oisin O'Shaughnessy:

We believe that the 50-basis-points fee is a good level and a good idea, and we would be supportive of it.

As Mr. Bolger said, it fits. Our large schemes come in with an average charge under 50 basis points, BPs, and that feels like the correct level for a scheme such as this. If we compare that internationally, the UK has a 0.75% charge limit, although competition has driven that lower, so the experienced rate in the UK is below that figure. Similarly, in New Zealand, there is a maximum charge of 1%. We think the 0.5% stated in the straw man proposal is the correct level and it compares favourably internationally. We would not have a concern about that if we were going with the straw man proposal, and if auto-enrolment were to be delivered through the private market, we would not have a problem with the figure of 0.5%. We think that would serve members well.