Key themes shaping the Irish pensions market in 2026

The Irish pensions landscape kicked off 2026 on a decidedly optimistic note. Following the launch of Auto Enrolment on 1st January, the Pensions Summit 2026 brought together key State stakeholders who shared encouraging data and outlined clear priorities for the year ahead.

Auto Enrolment: A strong start

Minister Dara Calleary and NEARSA Chairperson Dermot Griffin presented impressive figures from My Future Fund's first month:

• 763,000 members registered by 104,000 employers
• €40 million to be invested for the first month
• 4,000 voluntary members already enrolled
• A healthy split between weekly (58%) and monthly (30%) payroll participants

With both member and employer portals fully operational, the infrastructure is in place to support continued growth. Importantly, NEARSA’s current approach newly introduced Minimum Contribution legislation will be to assess and support compliance rather than enforcement.

Legislative priorities take centre stage

Both Minister Calleary and Pensions Regulator Brendan Kennedy identified Pensions Scheme Authorisation legislation as a key priority for 2026.

Master Trust migration continues

The Regulator shared revealing statistics about the market's evolution:

• 89% of pension assets concentrated in just 650 standalone schemes and Master Trusts
• €40 billion in pension assets now held in Master Trusts on behalf of 750,000 members
• PRSA assets doubled to €21.5 billion in the 18 months to end-2024, with further growth expected

To accelerate consolidation, the Pensions Authority is removing the requirement for employer consent when moving schemes to Master Trusts and working actively with administrators to engage unengaged standalone schemes. Where necessary, they're prepared to use their powers to appoint trustees.

Trustee governance under the microscope

Insights from Supervisory Review Process highlighted:

• Trustees are not always considering Conflicts of Interest seriously enough
• Administration and Operational resilience is a key risk and cannot be fully delegated to the Administrators
• The Own Risk Assessment (ORA) is a trustee document and central to the management of the scheme
• On investments Trustees can be too passive in accepting the objectives and risk tolerances from their managers

Looking ahead

With Auto Enrolment off to a flying start, regulatory focus sharpening, and Authorisation on the horizon, 2026 promises to be a transformative year for Irish pensions. The message from the Summit was clear: collaboration, compliance, and continuous improvement will be the watchwords as the market matures.