Peter Roche (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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62. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the supports his Department is putting in place to assist small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly those without dedicated HR capacity, to prepare for the introduction of the auto-enrolment pension scheme (details supplied); if he is aware that many SMEs in areas such as Galway east have reported receiving little to no communication about the scheme and are concerned about the additional administrative costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50819/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Auto-enrolment pension scheme is under the remit of the Department of Social Protection, which has provided me with the information below.

The Programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce the Automatic Enrolment (AE) Retirement Savings System. 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 income. The new system - to be known as My Future Fund - will commence from 1 January 2026.

The national campaign to raise awareness of 'My Future Fund' is well underway, with the current focus being on awareness raising with employers. Thousands of employers and related professionals in HR and payroll have been directly reached through webinars, conferences and in person stakeholder meetings in recent months, most recently at the National Ploughing Championships. The second phase of the strategy commenced this summer with the launch of an advertising campaign on multiple media platforms.Additional campaigns targeted at employers and employees will be run before and after the launch in January 2026.

There is a very good, up-to-date information hub available to anyone who wants to learn more about My Future Fund and how it will work. This is at www.gov.ie/autoenrolment, and it includes links to information videos on the Department of Social Protection's YouTube channel.

Any queries on this should be directed to my colleague, Minister Dara Calleary TD.