Exclusive: Thousands of Irish people’s auto-enrolled savings connected to companies arming Israel

A new government financial scheme to help people save without a private pension is linked to companies who help arm Israel.

It is separate from the Irish State Pension. Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary said during the launch that: "MyFutureFund is a landmark initiative that provides employees with a secure financial future when they retire."

If you are an employee and were not paying into a pension, you may have been automatically included (auto-enrolled) in a new pension scheme on 1 January 2026.

From 1 July 2026, if you were enrolled in the scheme, you can choose to leave it and get a refund of your pension contributions so far.

Employees pay 1.5% of their gross income towards their fund. Their employer matches this contribution, and the State also pays a contribution of 0.5%. The government says these contribution rates will increase in future years.

The money saved is then invested with private companies to increase the money returned to the worker and create security for their savings.

A spokesperson confirmed to JOE that MyFutureFund "has contracts in place with three leading Investment Managers -Amundi, Blackrock, and Irish Life (Keyridge)."

A United Nations report mapped the corporations aiding Israel in the displacement of Palestinians and its genocidal war on Gaza, in breach of international law.

48 corporate actors, which includes Blackrock, are listed. Blackrock is a major investor in Israeli bonds and is the second largest institutional investor in Palantir, which provides software and surveillance technology to Israel's military.

One of the world’s most advanced data-mining companies, Palantir’s supplys Israel’s military and intelligence agencies with advanced and powerful targeting capabilities.

"Blackrock and Vanguard rank among the largest investors in arms companies pivotal to Israel’s genocidal arsenal. Major global banks have underwritten Israeli treasury bonds, which have bankrolled the devastation," the report states.

After October 7th, 2023, when Hamas killed 1,400 people at Nova music festival, arm systems were transferred to Israel by ThyssenKrupp, a German multinational industrial conglomerate.

Amundi Asset Management SA is an investor in ThyssenKrupp. These arms transfers have continued despite the International Court of Justice's order requiring Israel to take all necessary measures to avoid a plausible risk of genocide occurring in Gaza.

The transfer of arms and ammunition is likely to have enabled deliberate, disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks in Gaza by the Israeli military. It has resulted in numerous human rights violations.

A spokesperson for Blackrock told JOE that as an index investor, the investments BlackRock makes on behalf of clients are to track an index. "BlackRock does not select the individual companies in the indexes."

"In terms of the direct question about Palantir investments we will not be issuing a comment."

A spokesperson for Amundi told JOE:“We are deeply concerned by the human tragedies caused by the conflict in the Middle East.

Amundi pays the utmost attention to human rights issues and, as part of its responsible investment policy, regularly engages with companies concerned by these issues.

Amundi also strictly complies with the requirements of international conventions and excludes from its funds companies that do not comply with these international conventions.”

Over 73,000 people have been killed in Gaza during the Israeli genocide.

Sinead Gibney, Social Democrats TD said although it is hard in a globally volatile world to find investment opportunities that are ethical, however it should be expected.

"It is an increasingly difficult landscape for people to invest ethically," she said.

"But nonetheless, this is a government initiative, and there is an obligation on the government within the Genocide Convention to make sure that they are acting in an ethical and sustainable way. Therefore, I think it is normal and appropriate that people's expectations would be that their money is not going to these kinds of investment funds."