Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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206. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the body that will manage the funds in the context of the plan for an auto-enrolment pension scheme; the role she envisages for existing pension fund administrators; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43772/19]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As stated in the 'The Roadmap for Pensions Reform', the Government proposes to begin implementation of a supplementary retirement savings system, known as Automatic Enrolment (AE), by 2022.  AE will see a transition from the current and purely voluntary system to one which will, subject to certain parameters, automatically enrol employees into a quality assured retirement savings system.  The saver will maintain the freedom of choice to opt-out.

In August 2018 I was pleased to launch 'A Strawman Public Consultation Process for an Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System for Ireland' as the basis for an extensive national consultation process.  The Strawman document set out a plausible approach to the design of an AE system.  The consultation process resulted in significant engagement from a diverse range of stakeholders.  Overall, the responses to the Strawman consultation process were positive and constructive with a general acceptance of the principles and concepts underpinning AE.

With regard to existing pension fund administrators, the Strawman document sets out that employees already contributing to supplementary pensions that meet a prescribed minimum standard will not be automatically enrolled.  Accordingly, the aim of automatic enrolment is to complement, rather than replace, existing private pension provision.  

In terms of the administrative and organisational arrangements of the AE system, the Strawman proposes the establishment of a 'Central Processing Authority' (CPA) that would be responsible for sourcing a limited number of private sector ‘Registered Providers’ who would deliver retirement saving services to members.  In this regard, the CPA would tender for service delivery by the Registered Providers through the open market on a periodic basis.  The CPA would also establish the standards for retirement savings services to be delivered by the ‘Registered Providers’ and the product features and options that would be offered. 

In order for the Government to be able to make decisions on the preferred delivery option, further work is being carried out to determine the implications of any option being considered.  To this end, my Department was successful in obtaining technical support through the EU Structural Reform Support Services in relation to the design of the AE system.  In this regard, the Department is being supported by a project team of international pensions experts on the scope and design of the CPA, with the aim of finalising proposals for Government by the end of the year.

Most recently, the Cabinet Committee on the Economy was updated on progress with the design of the AE system including an overview of findings from the consultation process.  I intend to bring a further report to Government in the coming weeks to facilitate the next steps for implementation of the scheme.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.