Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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587. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will address the concerns in correspondence (details supplied) regarding pension entitlements in the ETB sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49253/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Information Note ESR ETB 0001/2024 which was published in 2024, outlined the agreement reached on the regularisation of tutors employed by ETBs in adult, community, and further education settings. This agreement does not apply to Tutors engaged on adult self-financing programmes in FET Colleges or those who are ineligible for access to public service pension schemes. Under this agreement, those delivering self-financing programmes are assigned to the Tutor contract at the appropriate non pensionable self-financing hourly rate of pay and not recruited as Adult Educators.

Changes to terms and conditions for any of the sector can only be agreed by a national pay agreement or the relevant IR Forum e.g. ETB IR Forum with agreement from all parties i.e. Department(s), Management Bodies and Trade Unions.

It is also worth noting that there are alternative options for planning for financial stability in retirement, such as the auto enrolment scheme called ‘My Future Fund’, which is a State sponsored scheme developed by the Department of Social Protection, which will launch on 1 January 2026.

‘My Future Fund’ is directed towards employees between 23 – 60 who earn above €20k annually, based on an initial 1.5% contribution, which will increase by 1.5% every 3 years, to 6% by 2035.