Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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790. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to state who was awarded the contract to provide the auto-enrolment pension system; the amount the contract was for; when the contract starts; and if the auto-enrolment system is postponed, the payments, if any, that will be made to the service provider during the postponed timeframe. [23273/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce the Automatic Enrolment (AE) Retirement Savings System. The legislative basis for implementing the new system was enacted last July. The aim of introducing AE is to address the pension coverage gap that exists in Ireland and to provide workers with greater comfort and security regarding their retirement savings. I recently announced the system will commence from 1st January 2026.

The new system will be called 'My Future Fund'. It will automatically enrol all employees, aged between 23 and 60 years of age, who are earning €20,000 or more per year (across all employments), and who are not actively contributing to a supplementary pension scheme through their employer's payroll. Those who fall outside the age and earnings threshold – in other words, those aged between 18 and 22 or between 60 and 66, or who earn below €20,000 - will be able to join My Future Fund by voluntarily opting in if they wish to do so.

A contract was signed on 9th October 2024 with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for the provision of a managed service to operate the administration of the AE system. TCS will work under contract to the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA), which is in the process of being established to administer and regulate the AE retirement savings system on behalf of its participants. My Department is working closely with TCS to operationalise and deliver My Future Fund by 1st January next. Separately, a tendering exercise is underway to chose 3 investment management firms to invest the contributions of participants. This exercise is expected to conclude in the coming weeks.

The Department does not comment on the costs of arrangements with third parties providing administration and investment services for AE as the contractual arrangements are and will be commercially sensitive.

I hope this clarifies matters for the Deputy.