Executive summary

Background

Aims

Method

Results overview

Background

Executive summary

Pension auto-enrolment in Ireland is happening at last. The legislation has passed and the Department of Social Protection indicated a commencement date of 30th September 2025 for the new scheme. Despite extended consultation and rescheduling, this major change has been on the cards for some time. Have Ireland’s employers taken advantage of the delays to get fully prepared? In January 2023, we carried out this survey for the first time, asking organisations about their understanding of the changes and what – if any – plans they had in progress. Two years on, this new report asks the same questions again. With less than a year left on the clock, how far have employers come? And what should you be doing now for a successful rollout?

Aims

This report sets out to:

Understand the preparedness of Ireland's employers for the imminent rollout of pension auto-enrolment – and how this has changed since 2023.

Provide useful guidance for organisations to get ready for the rollout and avoid costly, time-consuming disruption or penalties.

Method

Zellis surveyed 356 payroll, HR, finance, and IT professionals in the Republic of Ireland in January 2025. We drew from a range of sectors, company sizes, and seniority levels including middle management, senior management, and executive levels.

Results overview

Understanding of the rollout timeline and steps has increased significantly.
Today, 43% of employers report having ‘some understanding’ of the pension auto-enrolment, compared to only 30% in 2023. However, the percentage reporting ‘very little understanding’ remained very steady at 28%.

Employers are generally a little more prepared, with 54% choosing ‘somewhat prepared’ up from 37% in 2023. Only 4% of respondents consider their organisation ‘completely unprepared’ now, compared to 20% previously. However, 21% still feel 'somewhat unprepared’, highlighting an ongoing need for support and action ahead of the launch.

Fewer than half of organisations have a good idea of what the new scheme will cost to run. Only 23% have calculated the cost of auto-enrolment. This means that six in ten companies haven’t done the maths yet, putting them at risk of costly surprises further down the line.

The integration with payroll and HR is only halfway there. Just 42% of those surveyed have checked their payroll solution can handle auto-enrolment, while under half (45%) have run awareness and preparedness campaigns with HR and payroll employees.

Payroll systems will need to be modernised, according to respondents. Today, 45% expect to spend more on this, compared to only 30% back in 2023. Financial forecasting tools are another key area of planned investment.

Employers believe more of their workforce will take part in the scheme. As Ireland has travelled further down the road to auto-enrolment, it seems that most (63%) now expect to see 60-100% participation, whereas two years ago, only 49% thought it would be that popular.