Results 2,301-2,320 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I thank members for attending today and for facilitating the early hearing of Committee Stage of the Bill. The implementation of the automatic enrolment, AE, retirement savings system represents probably the single biggest reform of the pension system in the history of the State. I reiterate the Government’s commitment to the State pension remaining the bedrock upon which the Irish...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputies for their comments. I do not propose to accept these amendments because section 11 already sets out that the board of NAERSA will contain a person who has knowledge of or experience in matters relating to the interests of employees. This person could well turn out to be a representative of ICTU, or someone who would otherwise meet the approval of trade unionists. ...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The role of the board of NAERSA is to look after the interests of the automatic enrolment participants. It will obviously take account of the employers and workers. The Minister who appoints the board will ensure one of the representatives has strong experience regarding the workers. I do not want to be prescriptive in that ICTU is the nominating body. It is up to the Minister to examine...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: There is no evidence of displacement. The evidence in the UK is that employers have improved schemes and membership has increased since the introduction of automatic enrolment rather than decreased, which is good. We want to see more pension coverage. Amendment No. 3 relates to occupational pensions. They do not come within the scope of this Bill or the functions of the authority,...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Yes.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Sorry, I referred to section 40(3).

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Statistical reporting is already provided for. It includes periodic reporting on the performance of these funds and any other matters that are considered to be appropriate to report on.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Regarding amendment No. 4, I can ask the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, OPC, to look at it. I have no problem doing that. I do not know if it is going to make a huge difference, but I am happy to get the OPC to look at it to see if it would be okay to put in the types of funds invested in. Is that okay?

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: If a person has a PRSA and it is not deducted through payroll, he or she is automatically put into the AE system, because this is a payroll deduction. AE comes from payroll deduction. We feel that the wording of this section is important. It states that the first standard would be drawn up from a date no later than "the beginning of years 7 to 9." That means that the standard for...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I am not.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I understand.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: No. If a person is in a PRSA, the majority of PRSAs are not done through payroll deduction. That means that a person has that pension himself or herself. However, that person can also have an automatic enrolment as well. They can go into AE because it is based on payroll deduction. If there is no payroll deduction for any other pension, that person can have AE.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: No.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: However, the person can stop paying the PRSA through payroll and then qualify for AE.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: No. Auto-enrolment is available from day one. Nobody is going to lose out. There is very little in this and what we are talking about because if we substitute years 7 to 9 with 4 to 6, we would have to calculate to the end of year 3 and, therefore, the employees will only have had the benefit of 1.5%. It will not have moved on to the next step. That is why I am saying the end of year 6...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy. Pension adequacy is an important objective of auto-enrolment. In order to ensure this is achieved, it is vital that participation and retention rates in auto-enrolment remain high. Having a mandatory participation period will help greatly with this. If somebody had given me the choice between more money in my pocket or a pension back when I started to work, I would have...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Chair for the opportunity to respond because I need to clear up some issues. I asked the same questions that each of the Deputies did when I went through this in detail. Although it seemed like a fit, when you look into it and consider it carefully, we are setting up a new, separate State body that will manage and take participants' money and it will be solely dedicated to...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: It is fair to say that NAERSA will collect all of the contributions from employer, employee and State top-ups. It will have it. The investment managers will only have one account. There will not be individual accounts. It will all be managed through NAERSA. The point I wish to make is that there are economies of scale there because we are pooling all of the contributions. There will be...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I will discuss amendments Nos. 13 to 15, inclusive, together but propose different approaches to them. I do not propose to accept amendment No. 13. I note this section provides for the establishment of investment funds with various levels of risk into which participants' contributions will be placed. Each of these investment funds will have environmental, social and governance, ESG,...