Former National Lottery chief Dermot Griffin to lead pension auto-enrolment body

National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority will lead rollout, which begins on January 1

Minister for Social Protection, Dara Calleary with Roma Burke first chair of the Board of NAERSA and Dermot Griffin the new NAERSA chief executive. Picture: Maxwell’s 

The former chief executive of the National Lottery Dermot Griffin will lead the rollout of the new auto-enrolment pension scheme as he was named CEO of the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA). 

Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary announced the board of NAERSA on Wednesday. MyFuture Fund, the auto-enrolment scheme, will commence on January 1 next. All employees not already in an occupational pension scheme, aged between 23 and 60 and earning over €20,000, will be automatically enrolled. 

Mr Griffin, served as chief executive of the National Lottery from 2005 to 2019 and was responsible for the transition of the lottery to a private licence operator under Premier Lotteries Ireland. He is a chartered accountant and is currently a non-executive director of the Irish Aviation Authority.

Roma Burke will chair NAERSA. Ms Burke is an actuary and previously served as the chair of the Pensions Council and is a partner with Lane Clark & Peacock Ireland Ltd. 

NAERSA will administer My Future Fund, determining eligibility for auto-enrolment and enrolling eligible employees. It will also collect all employee, employer, and State contributions, and invest the money on participants’ behalf.

"The introduction of MyFuture Fund is about ensuring that employees have access to a quality assured retirement savings option. In time it will not just benefit employees but will also be a boon to the economy as more people will have more money to spend in retirement," said Mr Calleary.

The six other board members are Prof Alan Barrett, Tony Donohoe, Patricia King, Brian Murphy, Dr Orlaigh Quinn, and Mary Walsh. Mr Barrett is a research professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and chair of the Commission on Care for Older People. Mr Donohoe is chair of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs.  Ms King is former general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and currently chair of the Statutory External Oversight Body of the Defence Forces. Mr Brian Murphy is a chartered accountant and former chief of staff to the Taoiseach.  Ms Quinn is a former secretary general of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and currently chair of the governing committee of the Research Ireland Connect Centre. Ms Walsh is a former partner at PwC, and former non-executive director of the Central Bank, the NTMA, and the Pensions Board.