Benefits in Ireland

All companies, which either do not offer an occupational pension scheme or where employees must wait longer than six months to join the occupational pension scheme, must offer access to a PRSA.

There are no mandatory contributions by the employer, just access to a PRSA. It is up to the employee whether they join the PRSA or not. Access must be provided within six months of the employee starting employment.

Irish residents receive State Pension payments once they reach the age of 66, provided they contributed sufficiently to social insurance. According to Irish employment law, the employer isn’t required to set up or contribute to a pension scheme as a benefit to the employee. However, if there is no pension scheme in place or the employee hasn’t joined one, the employer has to provide access to a personal pension plan through a Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA) provider within the first six months of employment.

Automatic enrolment into a pension scheme will begin in January 2026 and will apply to employees who are not already participating in a pension. To be eligible, employees must be aged between 23 and 60, earn at least €20,000 per year from a single employer, and not already be members of an existing pension scheme. Eligible employees will be enrolled automatically, with the option to opt out after six months during specified periods.
Employee contributions will start at 1.5% of earnings and will gradually increase to 6% by year ten, with employer contributions matching the same progression. In addition, the government will provide support by contributing €1 for every €3 that an employee pays in. Employers are prohibited from encouraging employees to opt out or from reducing pay as a result of enrolment.

This is a government initiative that allows employers to sign up to a provider that offers employees an opportunity to purchase bikes and accessories utilising their gross income and hence saving on tax, PRSI and USC costs.

This is a confidential counselling program and information service that is available to all employees and their families.

Contributing to pension schemes at independent funds is becoming more common for both employers and employees. If a pension scheme is approved under the relevant legislation, it may benefit from various tax concessions, subject to certain limits. In the upcoming years, Ireland will be rolling the possibility of auto-enrolment into pension funds.

All residents in Ireland are entitled to receive health care through the public health care system (Health Service Executive), funded by general taxation. However, many employers still offer their employees private health insurance. Since benefits in kind are taxable, they should be taken into consideration when calculating an employee’s net take-home pay.

Some employers offer employees life insurance after the probation period. This also represents a taxable benefit in kind.

Income protection provides a replacement income if an employee is unable to work due to an illness or injury. Employers commonly offer this benefit in Ireland.

Employees are not guaranteed pay during their maternity, paternity and adoption leave, although they may qualify for benefits from the Department of Social Protection.

Many employers provide for some level of compensation during that time. In addition, many employers offer extra time off on top of the statutory limit.

In some companies, a gym membership is provided as an employee benefit.

Some private healthcare packages include dental and vision benefits.

Some companies give employees 4-8 extra days off free or offer the ability to purchase additional days.

The complexities of issuing options to employees in Ireland are intricate and subject to tax. Regulations are still in a grey area. For more information, get in touch with us directly.

Some companies offer compressed working weeks during the summer months, earlier finish on Fridays, flexible working hours and work from home options.

Many companies offer training opportunities for their employees, whether that is through external providers or in-house. As long as the training directly links with the job a person is doing or what the business does, and helps facilitate work that is needed in the company, employees are exempt from paying tax on them. Another contribution related to training is tuition reimbursement.