Any assessment of the Government’s efforts to introduce auto-enrolment for personal pension schemes must begin with the numbers. According to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) more than a quarter of Irish adults have no financial plan in place for their retirement. Anyone without a private pension scheme will be reliant on the State pension system, the finances of which look set to become increasing precarious if demographic changes are not arrested, most likely through immigration. We are the last member of the OECD club of rich nations to introduce such a scheme. But Ministers need to underline the longer-term imperative that pension auto-enrolment is a success.
