On Wednesday, 3rd May, Insurance Ireland was pleased the majority of the issues raised as part of our submission and appearance before the Committee were addressed in the recommendations of the Committee’s Report on Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2022.

Insurance Ireland attended the launch of the report on 3rd May and CEO Moyagh Murdock put the question to the Committee whether further consideration was given to the utilisation of the experience and the expertise of the existing pension infrastructure and providers currently operating successfully. Murdock continued this would lead to a speedier implementation of the system and could work to achieve the maximum of 0.5 per cent charge outlined in the recommendations.

In line with the Insurance Ireland position, the recommendations included the lower age limit be reduced from 23 to 16 years, aligning it with the PRSI minimum age threshold. The Committee also recommended the lower income threshold of €20,000 be removed as the threshold of €20,000 can penalise young workers, low earners, and disproportionately women. During our appearance before the Committee in February, Insurance Ireland flagged the risks for women and of baking in the already present gender pension gap due to a lack of flexibility, therefore, we were pleased the Committee included recommendations the 2018 Strawman approach should be reverted to, allowing for increased flexibility of contribution levels, and importantly for women, there should be provision for a state incentive during periods of maternity leave, and also on allowing for an efficient tax mechanism for partners to make contributions when on unpaid leave. You can watch the full Insurance Ireland contribution to the Committee in February here or read our submission here.

Insurance Ireland appreciate the level of engagement from members both in advance of the hearing and during the drafting of our detailed position last year, the impacts of which can be seen throughout the Committee’s report.

The full report can be found here