Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an deis seo labhairt ar cheist na bpinsean agus an phleanáil fhadtéarmach atá taobh thiar de pholasaí dá leithéid seo le cinntiú go mbeidh slándáil agus cinnteacht airgeadais do dhaoine amach anseo nuair a éiríonn siad as obair.

At the outset, I pay tribute to the Minister for prioritising the introduction of My Future Fund as a landmark policy in terms of how we, as a country, prepare our citizens and population for achieving and ensuring security in retirement. When he took office, it was clear that he prioritised this. He made it clear and gave certainty to both businesses and workers that the introduction of PRSI from 1 January 2026 was a priority for him. I am happy that it is going to be implemented.

The context in which this scheme is being designed shows a need for it. At present, 35% of workers have access to private sector pensions. That represents something of a demographic time bomb for us and for the financial security of those people in the future. Auto-enrolment, while allowing participants to opt out, is a large step towards ensuring their financial security. The design of the scheme has much to recommend it, including its flexibility and the fact it travels with the worker, avoiding the need to switch or open new pension schemes if workers move to different jobs throughout their careers, which we know they do, especially in the private sector. The tenure for which people hold jobs is a lot shorter than was the case 20 or 30 years ago. It is important that there is portability and flexibility in the design of any pension product.

For small businesses and lower paid workers, the introduction of an auto-enrolment scheme like this, with the incentives that exist, such as State and employer support, shows that we are aware of and alive to many of the burdens that are being placed on small and medium businesses. It is important to recognise that while this is a worthwhile policy, we are making an ask of smaller businesses and lower paid workers to make sure it succeeds and provides them with financial security.

While the overall design of the scheme is something I am very much in favour of - it is put together very well - I encourage the Minister to ensure that he keeps an eye on the management fee structure relating to it. A decision will be made on the overall level of the management fees involved in the next seven to ten days. Currently, it is stated that the total cap will be 0.5%. While that sounds very small to many of us, if someone were to take 0.5% of the value of a person’s house over his or her lifetime, it would amount to a large amount of money. I encourage the Minister to look at models like the National Employment Savings Trust in the UK, which has a mandated pension fund fee of 0.3% in order to ensure that the burden we are asking of lower paid workers and employers is not necessarily made to allow for investment fund managers to make a lot of money on the back of the costs that we are asking those workers and the businesses to bear. That that should be taken into account. I encourage the putting in place of such a measure in order to make the scheme a sustainable and affordable option for people in the future and to ensure that their contributions to such a scheme are well registered and received and that fees are kept as low and competitive as possible. Ultimately, it is about making sure people keep the most amount of money they can as they enter into retirement. That must be reflected in the fees that are payable.

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