By D Collins
As Ireland approaches the rollout of sweeping pension changes in 2025, a seismic but under-reported shift is underway: the State is slowly dismantling the “cradle to grave” social contract that defined public life for decades.
In its place is a colder, market-driven model one that subtly rewrites the deal between the Irish government and its citizens.
Where once there was a promise of dignity in old age, now there is fine print, contribution caps, and auto-enrolment schemes managed by investment markets. And beneath the polished brochures lies a troubling truth: young workers today may never see a real State pension at all.
Article 45 — A Promise with No Teeth
Buried in the Constitution’s Article 45 is a noble but unenforceable aspiration:
“The State pledges itself to safeguard with especial care the economic interests of the aged.”
That principle shaped generations of policy unemployment assistance, social housing, and most notably, the old age pension. It gave working people an expectation that their loyalty, taxes, and service would one day be rewarded with security and respect in retirement.
But in 2025, the State begins walking away from that moral obligation. These new pension reforms mark not just a change in how we save but a retreat by the government from its foundational responsibility
.
The Fine Print of the New Pension Era
The 2024 Finance Bill and the postponed “My Future Fund” auto enrolment scheme introduce a slick new system but with it, accountability for retirement shifts decisively away from the State and onto the individual.
Key Changes
- Employer contributions to PRSAs now capped at 100% of salary. Anything over that? Taxed.
- State Pension increases remain modest at about €12 per year barely keeping pace with rising living costs.
- Auto-enrolment scheme means workers earning over €20,000 will be forced to contribute but their returns are tied to market performance.
- The State? A partial contributor, a passive observer, not a guarantor.
For all the complexity, the message is simple: You’re on your own.
From Public Duty to Private Risk
What’s quietly being dismantled here isn’t just policy it’s the entire post-war idea of a social contract: that the State, in exchange for your labour and loyalty, will ensure your basic welfare at life’s end. In its place stands a marketplace. One where your retirement income depends on: - global interest rates,
- fund managers’ decisions in Frankfurt or New York,
- the next financial crash. And crash they do.
- In 2008, Irish pension funds lost over 35% in a single year.
- In 2022, another €15 billion was wiped from Irish pension pots.
- Many nearing retirement were forced back to work some never retired at all.
One former teacher told The Irish Times in 2023:
“I played by the rules. Paid into AVCs for 25 years. And it vanished just before I turned 66. Now I’m packing boxes in a warehouse.” Another civil servant, blindsided by losses, described it more bluntly:
“We weren’t investing. We were gambling. But we didn’t know the casino was rigged.”
What the State Won’t Say Out Loud
The truth is uncomfortable:
There may be no meaningful State pension for Ireland’s young workers in 40 years. The €12 annual increases are symbolic. The autoenrollment scheme is built on stock markets, not State coffers.
And Article 45? It offers moral comfort, not legal certainty. This is not to reform its abdication. The responsibility for old age has been pushed back onto the shoulders of workers. The market, not the Republic, now decides whether you retire in comfort or in fear.
Final Thought
What we’re witnessing is the end of a social promise. Where once the Irish State stood by its citizens, it now stands aside. The people who built the country, paid taxes, and believed in the social contract are being replaced by contributors, investors, and risk-bearers. For the younger generation, this isn’t just a change in pension rules it’s the slow erasure of the idea that your country will look after you when you can no longer work. And when the market fails again it surely will not expect the State to catch you. It has already walked away.