Three years after it was first proposed, the Irish government is still getting to grips with exactly how, or when, its dream of automatically enrolling employees into an occupational pension scheme will be realised.

In March 2010, Ireland's Fianna Fáil-led administration unveiled plans to introduce auto-enrolment for employees aged 22 and over, in the publication of its National Pensions Framework. The report examined how the country could ensure workers have an adequate retirement income without crippling the country's already stretched public finances.