John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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43. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the progress made regarding introducing a new total contributions pension scheme by 2020 and the introduction of a pension auto-enrolment scheme by 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19168/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Government’s ‘Roadmap for Pensions Reform 2018-2023’, details specific actions that will be taken to reform our pension system and provides a timeline for each of these actions. Reforms in the plan include the introduction of a ‘Total Contributions Approach’ (TCA) to the calculation of the State pension (contributory) from 2020 and the introduction, from 2022, of an ‘Automatic Enrolment’ supplementary savings system, for those without personal retirement savings.

A ‘Total Contributions Approach’ discussion paper is currently being finalised by officials in my department and I expect to launch a national consultation process by the end of May. Thereafter, we will finalise design proposals by the end of this year before bringing these to Government for consideration. With regard to the Automatic Enrolment reform, in order to ensure that the ambitious timetable set out in the Roadmap is honoured, Government agreed that a new full time ‘Automatic Enrolment Programme Management Office’ (PMO) would be established within my Department. This has been done.

The PMO has started the work required to establish the evidence base which will inform future Government decisions regarding the design of the system.

A new Interdepartmental ‘Automatic Enrolment Programme Board’ has also been established to provide strategic direction to the project and ensure that operational arrangements are in place to allow first enrolments no later than 2022.

It is intended that Government will publish a draft or ‘strawman’ proposal later in Q2 of this year. This strawman will be used as the basis for a public consultation process on automatic enrolment including the potential organisational structure and design parameters for the system.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.