Minister announces appointment of CEO, Chair and Board of the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA)

• Important milestone for MyFuture Fund going live on 01January 2026
• Mr. Dermot Griffin announced as first CEO of NAERSA
• Ms. Roma Burke named as the first Chair of the Board of NAERSA
• Six other appointments have also been made to the Board
• NAERSA will administer MyFuture Fund and will handle the bulk of the administrative work, reducing the amount employers will have to do compared with other auto-enrolment systems

Minister for Social Protection, Mr. Dara Calleary, has today announced the appointment of key senior personnel to the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA), including the CEO, Chair, and Board Members. This is a critical step forward in ensuring that NAERSA is established, staffed and prepared in advance of MyFuture Fund commencing from 1st January 2026.

NAERSA will administer the auto-enrolment scheme, My Future Fund, facilitating people to save and invest for their retirement. It will handle the bulk of the administration of the scheme by 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. A default investment strategy will be in place, but some alternative investment options will be available for those who may wish to make a more active investment choice. NAERSA will then allocate any investment returns to participants’ savings pots. Participants’ will keep one savings pot as they move from job to job – this is known as the ‘pot-follows-member’ approach. NAERSA will operate an online portal for employees, to manage employee opt-outs, opt-ins, suspension of contributions and re-enrolment. It will also operate an online portal for employers, to record and facilitate payment of contributions. NAERSA will allow participants to redeem their retirement savings at State Pension age, which is currently 66.

All of this means that there will be very little administration for employers when compared to setting up and administering a workplace pension scheme. All employers will be asked to do in the lead up to the go-live date of 1st January 2026, is complete their profile on the employer portal, select a payment method for contributions and inform employees who have been enrolled of their enrolment date. A suite of employer focussed communications and resources will be made available closer to the launch to make all of this as simple as possible.

Announcing the appointments the Minister said:

“We received a very high level of interest in these positions from very strong candidates. This shows that MyFuture Fund, and its importance to the future of Ireland, has resonated with people, and gives me the luxury of selecting individuals from a range of backgrounds and with diverse and extensive experience. I really believe that all of the successful candidates being announced today are ideal for the positions, and truly a case of the sum of their parts coming together to make sure that NAERSA will be successful in its goals of administering MyFuture Fund.”

After an extensive and rigorous recruitment process, through the Public Appointments Service, Minister Calleary has named the first CEO of NAERSA as Mr. Dermot Griffin. Mr. Griffin, a chartered accountant, previously served as the CEO of the National Lottery from 2005 to 2019. He has since gone on to hold high profile positions in CUSOP Payments as CEO, providing electronic payments services to Credit Unions, and as a non-Executive Director of the Irish Aviation Authority.

Mr. Griffin said:

“I am delighted to join the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA) as CEO. MyFuture Fund is a great Government initiative providing an important retirement saving service to a huge group of people currently without pension arrangements. I look forward to working with the NAERSA Board and the Department of Social Protection in launching, operating and innovating the services of this new exciting business.

It will be my goal to make sure that employers are supported through the introduction of MyFuture Fund by ensuring that NAERSA performs all of its functions. However, the other side of this is making sure NAERSA protects employees, and compliance will be a key area of my focus. This is a hugely important moment for Ireland, and I feel a great deal of pride to be the person in charge of getting NAERSA on its feet and ensuring MyFuture Fund is up and running.”

The Chair and Board Members of NAERSA have also been announced by the Minister. Ms. Roma Burke will be the first Chair of NAERSA. Ms. Burke, an experienced actuary, has extensive knowledge of the pensions industry. She has previously served as the Chair of the Pensions Council and was a member of the Pensions Commission and led its Technical Subcommittee. This experience will be vital in ensuring NAERSA meets its objectives and has robust oversight.

Ms. Burke said in response to the announcement:

“I am delighted to be the first Chair of the Board of NAERSA and I very much look forward to taking on the role. I’m under no illusion as to the amount of work that will be involved, as being the first Chair carries with it the responsibility to ensure that NAERSA and MyFuture Fund are set on the right path. I believe my experience in the world of pensions will be a very valuable asset in this regard. I take the responsibility very seriously, especially in NAERSA’s role of acting in the best interests of the participants. MyFuture Fund is so enormously important to the future prosperity of Ireland and its people, and to get to play a role in it gives me a great sense of pride.”

The six other Board Members being appointed are Professor Alan Barrett, Mr. Tony Donohoe, Ms. Patricia King, Mr. Brian Murphy, Dr. Orlaigh Quinn, and Ms. Mary Walsh.

The Board will play an important role in the oversight of NAERSA and MyFuture Fund, in particular ensuring that the interests of all stakeholders are considered and protected. In addition to the oversight that the Board will provide, NAERSA will also be answerable to the Oireachtas and will be supervised by the Pensions Authority.

The Minister added:

“NAERSA will play a vital role in this landmark policy. 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 boom to the economy as more people will have more money to spend in retirement. The CEO, Chair and Board all have major parts to play, and I am confident in their ability to deliver for Ireland.”

Notes to Editor

Key Position Biographies

CEO Dermot Griffin

Dermot Griffin served as the CEO of the National Lottery from 2005 to 2019. During that time, he was responsible for the introduction of online services and the successful transition process in the National Lottery to a private licence operator under Premier Lotteries Ireland.

Prior to the National Lottery, Dermot was the Commercial Director of Vodafone Ireland and a member of the Boards of Vodafone Ireland and Vodafone Marketing International.

Dermot Griffin most recently served as the CEO of CUSOP Payments providing electronic payments services to Credit Unions and is currently a non-Executive Director of Irish Aviation Authority.

He graduated from UCD with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and qualified as an Accountant with KPMG Chartered Accountants.

Chair of the Board – Roma Burke

Roma Burke is a Partner and Consulting Actuary with Lane Clark & Peacock Ireland Ltd. She has over 25 years’ experience advising trustees and corporates on pension matters, with a focus on governance, strategy, and regulatory insight.

Roma is the immediate past Chair of the Pensions Council. She is a former member of the Pensions Commission and led its Technical Subcommittee. Roma is a past Chair of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland Pensions Committee and Council Member of the Society. She is a past Chair of the Dublin Simon Community Audit & Risk Committee and was an Independent Non-Executive Director on its Board.

Roma is a Chartered Director, Fellow of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland, Qualified Financial Adviser and holds a MA in Theoretical Physics from Trinity College Dublin. She is a holder of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland Outstanding Contribution Award.

Six Board Appointments (in addition to the Chair) are:-

• Professor Alan Barrett, Research Professor (and former Director) at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and Chair of the Commission on Care for Older People
• Mr. Tony Donohoe, former Senior Policy Advisor on Pensions at IBEC, and currently Chair of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs
• Ms. Patricia King, former General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and currently Chairperson of the Statutory External Oversight Body of the Defence Forces
• Mr. Brian Murphy, Chartered Accountant and former Chief of Staff to the Taoiseach
• Dr. Orlaigh Quinn, 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. Mary Walsh, former partner at PwC, and former non-executive director of the Central Bank, the NTMA, and the Pensions Board
  

Key features of My Future Fund include: -

1. Phased Implementation

• All employees not already in an occupational pension scheme, aged between 23 and 60 and earning over €20,000 across all of their employments, will be automatically enrolled.
• With the first enrolments set to happen at the end of this year, the introduction of Auto Enrolment will be very gradually phased in over a decade, with both employer and employee contributions starting at 1.5%, and increasing every three years by 1.5% until they eventually reach 6% by Year 10 (2034). This steady phasing allows time for both employers and employees to adjust to the new system.

1. Saving Supports

• Matching contributions will be made by employers to those contributions made by employees up to a maximum of €80,000 of earnings. This recognises the value employers gain through their employees having additional security in retirement and assists employees with the cost of accumulating pension savings.
• The State will also top up contributions by €1 for every €3 saved by the employee, up to a maximum of €80,000 of earnings. This is in addition to the €3 that will also be contributed by the employer.
• This means that for every €3 saved by an employee, a further €4 will be contributed to their pension pot by their employer and the State – that is every €3 contribution by an employee automatically grows to €7 before it is invested.
• These employer and State contributions will incentivise people to stay in the Auto Enrolment system and will reduce the cost to individuals of saving for retirement.

1. Choice

• The system will be voluntary but will operate on an ‘opt-out’ rather than an ‘opt-in’ basis.
• Eligible employees will be automatically enrolled/ ‘opted-in’ but will have the choice after six months participation to opt-out or suspend participation.
• Employees will have a range of four retirement savings strategies to choose from.
• Three strategies will have differing risk/return profiles. In addition, a default strategy based on what is known as a ‘life-style’/’life-cycle’ investment profile will be provided.
• People who do not express a preference for any strategy will be enrolled into the default strategy.

1. Simplicity

• Administrative costs and burdens are to be kept to an absolute minimum for both employers and employees through the establishment of An tÚdarás Coigiltis Scoir Uathchláraithe Náisiúnta to administer the system.
• Employers will not have to invest in the establishment or procurement of an occupational scheme for their own business. They will simply be required to facilitate payroll deductions.
• Importantly, people moving between jobs will not have to change pension scheme or join a new scheme. They will remain members of the Auto Enrolment scheme on a ‘pot-follows’ the member’ basis. In addition, people with multiple employments will have their pension savings consolidated into one ‘pensions-pot’.
• Services will be provided and supported through an easy-to-use online channel where participants will see their savings pots grow quickly and substantively.