Workers may have to pay 15% of wages into pension

Every worker in the country could be forced to contribute up to 15% of their gross income into a mandatory pension scheme, according to a proposal by the Society of Actuaries in Ireland.

Only half of the working population has a private pension scheme, which will put huge pressure on the State pension in the future, according to the SAI’s Cathal Fleming.

In a major review of pensions in the country, the SAI recommends that a system of mandatory pensions for public and private sector workers, as well as the self-employed, should be introduced from 2019 onwards. It recommends that initially employees contribute roughly 2%-3% of their gross salary to the pension scheme, but that this would grow to an average of between 10%-15% over a 15-20 year period.