The outgoing President of Ennis Chamber doesn’t believe a new auto-enrolment pension scheme is going to impact current staff shortages across multiple industries.
The new initiative will see hundreds of thousands of people who don’t currently have a pension automatically signed up in 2024.
The new auto-enrolment pension scheme will cost an estimated 2.8 billion euro.
It’ll see 750 thousand people who don’t currently have a pension automatically signed up in just two years’ time.
All workers earning over 20 thousand euro a year will make contributions.
In the first three years, employees will put in at least 1.5 per cent of their salary – matched by the employer – with the state contributing 0.5 per cent.
Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys says this will be above and beyond the State pension:
Despite the lead in time, there are fears being expressed that a pension scheme may impact people’s disposable income even further along with the rising cost of living.
A Clare member of ISME’s National Council though, insists people need to see an auto-enrolment pension scheme as a means of saving rather than losing money monthly.
Inagh based entrepreneur Siobhan Ni Ghairbhith says people need to look at the scheme in a positive light.
However, the outgoing President of Ennis Chamber says while the scheme is needed, he doesn’t believe it’ll go a long way to plugging the gap of staff shortages in many sectors.
The hospitality and retail industries in particular are understood to still be facing significant challenges in filling roles since the onset of the pandemic.
Ennis publican Darragh McAllister says an auto enrollment from the age of 18 may be the next step required by the Government.
