The Irish government has picked Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as its preferred partner to build and run the system for its landmark auto-enrolment (AE) pension scheme, according to a report in The Irish Times.
The report said the Department of Social Protection is expected to finalise the awarding of the 10-year contract, valued at up to €150 million, within weeks.
Under the AE scheme, workers and their employers will each initially pay 1.5 per cent of a person’s gross salary into the plan. This will increase to 3 per cent from year four before jumping to 4.5 per cent in year seven and 6 per cent from year 10.
As per the proposal, the scheme would apply to those aged between 23 and 60 earning at least €20,000 annually.
According to The Irish Times, Ireland remains the only country in the OECD that does not operate AE or a similar system to promote pension savings.