Lion’s share of workers signed up to Auto Enrolment hail from Dublin, followed by Cork and Galway

Workers urged to weigh up AE before the opt-out window closes

The lion’s share of the workers auto-enrolled to the Government’s new Auto-Enrolment (AE) scheme, ‘My Future Fund’, come from Dublin, while Cork has the second highest share of workers auto-enrolled, followed by Galway.

One in three of the workers auto-enrolled so far – or 242,611 in total - come from Dublin.  One in ten of the workers signed up to AE - or 75,706 in total - reside in Cork. Around one in 20 of the workers -  or 38,463 in total – that have been auto-enrolled come from Galway, meaning Galway workers make up the third biggest proportion of the total amount signed up to AE.

This is according to new government figures which provide a county-by-county breakdown of the number of workers enrolled to AE since it was launched at the start of the year (see Table 1 in Appendix).

Commenting on the figures, Keith Butler, CEO of Ask Acorn (a nationwide network of financial advisers) said:

“The figures reflect the concentration of workers in various counties, and so naturally, counties with higher concentrations of workers hold a higher proportion of the overall number of workers auto-enrolled to AE than is the case for other counties. Recent CSO data[1] shows that the highest proportion of workers reside in Dublin, Cork, Galway and so it’s not surprising that workers from these three counties account for the highest proportions of the overall number of Irish workers signed up to AE.”

Workers urged to weigh up AE before the opt-out window closes

So far, over 763,000 employees have been automatically enrolled since My Future Fund launched at the start of the year[2], with their first contribution to the scheme made in January and their second contribution made in February.

Pension experts at Ask Acorn are urging workers that have been signed up to AE to carefully weigh up the scheme and decide if it’s going to form part of their long-term plans or not, reminding these workers that they are still within the opt-out window -- -- which is between six months and eight months of the date they were automatically enrolled -- if they wish to leave the scheme. For any worker enrolled on January 1, this means that their opt-out window runs until between June and August. The pension experts however are warning that any decision to opt out should not be taken lightly, particularly if AE is a worker’s only opportunity to join a pension scheme.

Ask Acorn is also pointing out that workers still have alternative pension options even if they have been signed up to AE – such as supplementing AE with a personally owned pension or signing up to a company pension scheme that became available after AE.

Mr Butler explained:

“Workers who have been signed up to AE should note that it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. For some, this scheme will be a good fit. But for others, particularly those with different income levels, career paths or retirement goals, the contribution levels under AE may not fully meet their desired retirement income targets.

AE might lead some people, especially those who haven’t yet thought seriously about pensions, to believe they’re ‘covered’ without seeking proper advice.  Everyone who has been signed up for AE should be looking closely at what the scheme offers and considering independent advice – including around any alternative offer on the table from an employer and whether or not they need to supplement their AE pension.

If you’re one of the 763,000 workers that has been signed up to AE, it’s  important to take the time to make sure you are making adequate provisions for your  retirement. From a worker’s perspective, a bad decision around pensions could cost them dearly and see them struggle financially in retirement – or even worse, having to postpone retirement because they simply can’t afford to give up work. Workers signed up to AE since it was launched may now be realising that their first decision on it – or indeed any inaction around their retirement planning - may not be the best approach. Workers who have been auto-enrolled should be using the first few months of the year to consider their position on the scheme – that is, is AE right for them or should they be looking at other forms of retirement planning. It is not too late to do so, particularly given workers are still within the opt-out window.”