Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

Gabhaim buíochas leis na Teachtaí as na leasuithe agus as an seans an Bille tábhachtach seo a phlé. I gcomhthéacs na leasaithe ón Teachta Hayes, ní bheidh mé ag glacadh leis an leasú seo. I will not be accepting the amendment. I absolutely reject the Deputy's assertion that we are not prepared for the launch of My Future Fund.

In respect of the amendment, section 10 of the auto-enrolment Act relates to the establishment of the board of the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority, NAERSA. Section 10(2) charges the board with ring-fenced responsibilities that relate specifically to its oversight role in the overall management of NAERSA and the automatic enrolment system. This includes arrangements relating to the delivery of the statement of strategy, the annual plan and the performance of the chief executive officer. Section 10(2) also requires the board to have oversight of the performance of NAERSA's functions, which are set out in section 9 of the Act. Section 9(2) of the auto-enrolment Act mandates NAERSA to perform its function in a manner that operates in the best interests of the participants, which provides for the management of participants' retirement savings with appropriate care and judgment. The intent of this wording is similar to the wording in Deputy Hayes's amendment, in that fiduciary responsibility means acting in the best interests of participants. Moreover, section 11 of the Act provides that the duties of members of the board and the performance of their functions shall be owed by them to the authority and the authority alone. Additionally, the investment rules of the scheme, which are set out in section 74 of the Act, require the investment managers to invest participants' contributions in the best long-term interests of the participants. Given that the function of NAERSA includes arranging for the investment of contributions, the board of NAERSA will have an oversight role here in ensuring that the function is performed appropriately. Therefore, the inclusion of wording in section 10 requiring the board of NAERSA to act with fiduciary responsibility to participants is not required, as the intent of this wording is already provided for in this legislation.

In relation to preparedness, as the Deputy knows, this week we have launched the employers' portal of My Future Fund. Employers are signing up as we speak. Next week, we will be launching further details on that and we are continuing an extensive promotional campaign in this space around building people's awareness of My Future Fund. The notion that we are not prepared does not stand up to any fair or appropriate scrutiny.

See this speech in context