New Pensions Auto Enrolment in the ROI - A Best Practice Guide for January 2026

Introduction

It has been a long time in the making, but the OECD recommendations from their 2014 report to the Irish government concerning the need to expand pensions savings are finally coming to fruition. Are you ready for Ireland's new auto-enrolment pension rules in 2026?

The passing of the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Scheme Act provides the legal framework for soft compulsion on payroll-based pensions savings. Employers will soon be legally required to enrol qualifying staff into a workplace pension scheme - with penalties for non-compliance.

While the exact commencement date is still under debate, employers can now start planning for the procedures they will need to adopt as a result of the Act. This session will provide an essential overview of the requirements of the Act and will also discuss best practice in this field based on experiences from jurisdictions with similar regimes such as the UK, Norway, Australia and New Zealand, helping you to avoid costly mistakes and prepare with confidence.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• Qualifying employees and employers
• Definition of pensionable earnings
• Contribution rates
• The €20,000 lower earnings threshold - how it will work
• The €80,000 upper earnings threshold - how it will work
• Qualifying exempt pension schemes
• Tax relief - how it will work
• NAERSA and My Future Fund - how employers will interact with them
• Opt-outs and suspensions
• The “actively making contributions” rule

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Wednesday 10th December 2025

Alternatively, you can gain access to this webinar and 1,900+ others via the MBL Webinar Subscription. Please email webinarsubscription@mblseminars.com for more details.