Pensions

Analysis: Pension auto-enrolment in danger of turning into a ‘Where’s Wally?’ exercise

Goodbody pensions head Jim Connolly argues the plan could be truly valuable if the government learns from other country’s mistakes and gets it right

‘It was very clearly recommended to harmonise the entry age with that of the PRSI age threshold of 16. This would be a sensible approach. The committee also recommend the removal of the earnings threshold. Again, this would make sense’

The new auto-enrolment pensions system has the potential to put Ireland Inc in the envious position of being the first country in the world to get such a scheme right.

However, the current bill being developed by the government needs some fundamental fine-tuning before this might become a reality.

The lessons learned in other countries that have established auto-enrolment frameworks, including our neighbours in Britain, should serve as food for thought as to how we ...