Less than half of workers are currently in an occupational or private pension scheme, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). Just 47% of workers in Ireland are currently contributing to a pension plan.

The CSO figures show that only one in six workers aged between 20 and 24 have pension coverage, while 70% of those aged between 45 and 54 pay into a scheme.

Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) general secretary Patrica King said the figures reaffirmed the case for auto-enrolment, which entails compulsory occupational pension provision funded by contributions from employees, employers and the State. 

Fórsa backed the introduction of auto-enrolment at its national conference in Killarney in May 2018.

Commenting on the CSO figures, ICTU’s social policy officer Laura Bambrick said: “Tax relief has failed as a policy instrument to encourage low and middle-income earners to save enough to secure their future financial stability.”

She added that Government plans to introduce auto-enrolment by 2022 were in line with international best practice, and said a legal requirement on employers to contribute to workers’ pensions was necessary to boost pension coverage and address the current policy failure.

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