The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has urged politicians across all parties to prioritise the implementation of auto-enrolment legislation, following the publication of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection's pre-legislative review of the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill.

Fórsa and other unions have repeatedly called for the quick implementation of longstanding plans for auto-enrolment as most people who do not have a pension have indicated that the State pension would be their main source of income on retirement.

Auto-enrolment aims to increase the number of people who have occupational pensions by making it compulsory to join a scheme based on contributions from the worker, the State and the employer.

The Pensions Authority's activity figures for 2022 found a decline in the number of workers covered by private sector occupational pensions, despite the growing workforce.

Two-thirds of current private sector workers do not have a company pension and could experience a significant decrease in their standard of living during retirement as the State Pension is paid at a fixed rate of €253.30 per week.

General Secretary of ICTU Owen Reidy stressed the urgency of introducing a mandatory pay-related pension savings scheme that would improve income adequacy in retirement.

“The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has long pointed out that our voluntary approach to occupational pensions is not working and called for concrete action to address the alarmingly low pensions coverage,” he said.

He urged politicians to work together to get the legislation passed.

“Politicians have been talking about introducing a mandatory pay-related pensions saving scheme longer than they have been talking about increasing the pension age. Now that we are finally within touching distance of making income adequacy in retirement a reality for workers, it is imperative that all politicians work together to get the legislation passed. We cannot allow this Bill to fall if an election is called in 2024,” he said.

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