The proportion of Irish employees without access to an occupational pension fell in 2025, as 48 per cent said their employer did not offer a scheme, down from 53 per cent a year earlier, according to Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Its Pension Coverage 2025 report found that of those without occupational pension coverage, 17 per cent had chosen not to join their employer's pension scheme.

A further 13 per cent of employees were not eligible to join their employer’s occupational pension scheme, while 16 per cent said that they had a pension from a previous employment.

However, for those with an occupational pension scheme, the CSO revealed that defined contribution (DC) schemes continued to dominate the landscape in 2025, accounting for 69 per cent of schemes from current employment, unchanged year on year, while defined benefit (DB) schemes made up 26 per cent and hybrid arrangements just 5 per cent.

When it comes to the type of pension coverage, the statistics showed differences between the genders, with women more likely than men to hold a DB pension (29 per cent compared with 23 per cent).

DB coverage also remained concentrated among older workers, with 35 per cent of those aged 55 to 69 members of such schemes, compared with significantly lower levels among younger cohorts.

Furthermore, the data revealed that 33 per cent of DB members had been in their scheme for at least 20 years, compared with just 13 per cent of DC members. A similar pattern was seen for pensions from previous employment.

Overall, nearly one in five (18 per cent) employees had contributed to their current occupational pension for 20 years or more, although 41 per cent had been enrolled for less than five years. Among those aged 25 to 34, 73 per cent had been in their scheme for five years or less.

Older workers were more likely to have long contribution histories, with 46 per cent of those aged 55 to 69 paying into their scheme for at least two decades, compared with 30 per cent of those aged 45 to 54.

The data also pointed to disparities in access. Younger workers, particularly females aged 20 to 24, were most affected by a lack of employer-provided schemes, while part-time employees were significantly more likely than full-time workers to report that their employer did not offer a pension.

Among the self-employed with pensions from previous employment, DC schemes were again most common, accounting for 69 per cent, compared with 26 per cent in DB arrangements.

With the government’s auto-enrolment scheme, MyFutureFund, having launched in January 2026, the CSO found that awareness of the scheme increased in 2025; 42 per cent of workers without an occupational pension from their current employment said they were aware of the initiative, up from 28 per cent a year earlier.

By gender, awareness levels were broadly similar, though marginally higher among men (43 per cent) than women (42 per cent).

Across age groups, awareness rose universally, with the highest levels recorded among those aged 45 to 54, where 62 per cent of men and 58 per cent of women reported being aware of the scheme.

Among those eligible for AE (workers aged 23 to 60 without occupational pension coverage), 45 per cent were aware of the scheme, up from 29 per cent in 2024, compared with 30 per cent awareness among those not eligible but able to self-enrol.

Awareness was also notably higher among Irish nationals, with almost half (49 per cent) reporting familiarity with the scheme, up from 31 per cent a year earlier, while just 24 per cent of non-Irish nationals said the same.

Of the eligible respondents who were aware of the scheme, more than seven in ten (74 per cent) said they would remain enrolled if automatically signed up, a slight increase from 72 per cent in 2024.

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