Almost 5,000 people have opted out of the pension auto-enrolment system since a two-month window to leave the scheme opened on 1 July.
More than 800,000 people, including 9,000 who voluntarily opted in, have been enrolled in the ‘My Future Fund’ pension scheme since the start of the year and have saved over €400 million.
The administrator of the fund, the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA) said there has been a lower-than-expected number of opt out requests to date.
It added that no participants are considered to be “opted out” until after their 2-day cooling off period concludes.
“4,997 participants have opted out with 2,404 of those submitting their request in the first 24 hours,” a NAERSA spokesperson said.
“A further 1,583 participants are in their cooling off period at present.”
“There has been a marked decrease in requests in day 2 and individuals have the option to cancel their opt out at any stage until their cooling off period terminates,” NAERSA said.
For every €3 an employee contributes to My Future Fund, the employer matches with €3, and the State adds €1 representing a €7 increase in the participants retirement savings.
NAERSA said it is encouraging participants to carefully consider the decision to opt out.
“By opting out, employees will forgo contributions from their employer, currently 1.5% of gross pay, and the State top‑up, which together significantly increases the value of each euro saved over time,” the authority said.
A participant that opts out can choose a date in the next 24 months to re-enrol or they can opt to be automatically re‑enrolled after two years, if still eligible.