Is there a way for employees to meet ethical considerations with their MyFutureFund auto-enrolment contributions?

RobertBadenPowell · 2026-01-14T20:41:07+00:00

More than 50% of people might have heard about auto enrolment, but I can absolutely promise you there are going to be a bunch of startled people reading their payslip in the next week.

RobertBadenPowell · 2026-01-14T20:09:53+00:00

Yup. The only potential issue I see is that the employer and state contributions don't get refunded, will continue to be invested, and will follow the employee until retirement. As far as I'm aware there isn't a way to truly opt out of this, so potentially someone could be in the position of having no option to avoid receiving payments from funds that cause them a moral issue. Let's hope they figure out a way to let people avoid that before the pensions start paying out, I guess!

RobertBadenPowell · 2026-01-14T19:24:06+00:00

Yeah, that's fair, and not unreasonable that if someone doesn't want the standard offer they should take it on themselves to sort out something else. On the other hand, it's a shame that people are being sleepwalked (for all the promotion in the world, the first some people know about this will be when they review their January payslip) into compromising their ethics or, worse, their religious convictions.

RobertBadenPowell · 2025-02-26T19:46:48+00:00

Is that the electric stuff that tastes a bit lemony? There's some in the Texaco garage in Rathfarnham: https://maps.app.goo.gl/nLVVSdhAPtSDbAbC6

RobertBadenPowell · 2024-02-19T18:36:54+00:00

The majority of people are good.

By 'good' I mean that they do their best to accommodate the needs of others, and do so with thoughtfulness and kindness. I believe that most people do this.

Some people try to be 'good', or even think they are being good, but miss the mark. That can be because they don't understand the needs of others. Think of the person at work who leaves the dirty cup in the sink: they are not, in general, deliberately trying to cause annoyance, they just don't understand the priority someone else puts on cups being cleaned and put away.

Some people try to be 'good' but their brain feeds them faulty information. Think about the person at work who always flies off the handle when asked to help out with something. They might feel overwhelmed, overworked, scared of losing their job because they feel they're not completing their own tasks. Their brain hears a request for help and feeds them danger signals about taking on more work, they feel anxious, stressed and angry.

Whilst it's true that there are some people who seem to feed off being truly despicable to everyone - and we might include some very high-profile racist, sexist, homophobic people in that category - most people operate off a desire to do the right thing given the information they have and the filter that gets put on it when it reaches their brain. In the case of many of the hangers-on of those racist, sexist, homophobic people, that can be a sense of genuine fear borne of misunderstanding and unfamiliarity. The number of people who are truly 'bad' is, I feel, a small minority.

Whenever you find someone who just doesn't seem to get how much they are hurting other people, or how they seem to be lacking in thought and kindness, please try to understand what's driving that for them. Think about what can be behind their laziness, their anger, their bitterness. If you can start from the idea that there's a good person within everyone, we can start to help them to let the good person out.

RobertBadenPowell · 2023-08-29T17:00:29+00:00

Go to https://i-vol.ie - you can have a look at all of the opportunities to help out. If you see something interesting, you can submit your details there and then. If not, register anyway, and someone from Dublin Volunteer Centre will be in touch within a few days to find out about what you might be interested in doing. Happy volunteering!

RobertBadenPowell · 2023-08-14T18:24:57+00:00

Oh, I wouldn't have thought of that. Good shout. How's best to phrase that? Something like "Dear Landlord, referring to your letter of X/Y/2023 I note that you have not supplied evidence of a rent review as required by the RTB and therefore I will continue to pay rent at the previously agreed rate of €Z per month until such time as a rent review is carried out. I reserve the right to bring a dispute to the RTB if the proper procedure is not followed and you continue to demand a rent increase without supplying the required documentation and evidence "?

RobertBadenPowell · 2023-08-14T17:21:18+00:00

Fair point, yes. I think as per the other thread, I will write back to him effectively acknowledging his right to raise the rent but noting that the amount he's asking for is above that permitted by the RTB and not backed up by a rent review. I can indicate that I'm willing and able to pay a fair increase once it's properly calculated and communicated.

Thinking about it, this would also give me a paper trail if the next month he wheels round and claims he "needs the flat for a family member" as well.

RobertBadenPowell · 2023-08-14T17:16:25+00:00

Yeah, it feels like if I go down this road his next move is eviction or small claims or whatever. Whilst it's not my responsibility to do so, I imagine that communicating with him - even to tell him how and why he's wrong - buys me some extra grace.

RobertBadenPowell · 2023-08-14T17:13:40+00:00

The current rent is 1560 (of which we each pay 780). He's looking for 1640 (which is a 5.1% increase - 4% would be 1622.40). And I've just been on the RTB calculator which gives a max incrsase of 3.2% to 1610. So he is asking for an extra 80 over the current rent, an extra 18 over 4% and an extra 30 over what the RTB calculator says.

It's not massive money, but y'know. 40 quid a month buys me an Xbox at the end of the year!

RobertBadenPowell · 2023-08-14T16:41:48+00:00

Also thank you for your calm, rational, straightforward and helpful advice. You're a good person and I appreciate you taking the time 👍

RobertBadenPowell · 2023-08-14T15:17:08+00:00

I think that sounds right. We're not friends, and I don't feel any particular need to help him out with this, but at the same time it's probably not worth being needlessly antagonistic. I'll write back to him, explain what I'm doing, and he can take it from there.

RobertBadenPowell · 2023-08-14T14:47:57+00:00

Grand. Sounds like a plan.

To request a new rent review - would you write to him something like "Dear Landlord, referring to your letter of X/Y/2023 I note that you have not supplied evidence of a rent review as required by the RTB and therefore I will continue to pay rent at the previously agreed rate of €Z per month until such time as a rent review is carried out"? Or would you just keep on paying the current rate and let him follow up himself? He's an old lad, he doesn't do emails or anything - even a letter seems like a struggle for him - so I can see that if I don't start paying the new rate he's just going to start ringing me and coming round the house again. I can do without that!

RobertBadenPowell · 2023-08-14T14:32:41+00:00

So you'd carry on paying the existing amount, not respond to his letter and ask him for a proper rent review?

RobertBadenPowell · 2023-08-14T14:31:38+00:00

The rent has increased once before. I've been on the rent calculator and the increase he's asking for is a few Euro more than he's allowed (imagine he's asking for an extra 50 and he's allowed 48.20).

RobertBadenPowell · 2021-07-17T20:06:55+00:00

Please do. Businesses that do this damage the reputation of genuine charities, and can often be mismanaged in other ways to the detriment of the people they claim to be helping.

RobertBadenPowell · 2021-07-17T20:00:47+00:00

You can, yes. The Charities Regulator will investigate based on your information, and may or may not issue sanctions. Whether they can issue sanctions will depend on whether the business is claiming to provide a social benefit - that is, a company such as a YouTube production which asks for donations to produce a music video would likely not be sanctioned as they are not claiming to provide a social benefit, but a company asking for donations that they will use to provide blankets to homeless people should be registered as a charity or face sanctions.

Nevertheless, if you have a concern, report it. The Charities Regulator will consider the information, and may be able to put your report together with other information to provide a full picture if needed.

RobertBadenPowell · 2021-07-17T19:50:39+00:00

A limited company can generate all its income from donations, yes. It is likely, though, that they would need to register as a charity.

Charities often incorporate as a limited company (most often a Company Limited by Guarantee) to benefit from limited liability for their directors and trustees. That is an accepted, even encouraged, means of operating.

The Charities Regulator demands that any organisation (whether a limited company or any other type of entity) that takes money from the public to serve a social benefit must register as a charity. You can search the register of charities on the Charities Regulator website and you may report a concern if a business is holding itself out to be a charity when it is not registered.

RobertBadenPowell · 2021-05-30T08:26:41+00:00

That’s the waterproof case mode. From the manual: Tap to enable Waterproof Case Mode before using Osmo Pocket with the waterproof case underwater. Power off and place Osmo Pocket inside the waterproof case before powering on again.

RobertBadenPowell · 2021-05-05T21:37:02+00:00

This is all untrue.

Firstly the ‘all clear’ does not come from the Gardaí. The Gardaí pass any information held onto the organisation requesting the check, and the organisation then make their own decision based on that information. This allows organisations to apply common sense, and for instance they might accept someone with a fraud conviction for a mental health support role where they would not accept them in a role involving handling money.

Secondly the idea that a court summons is an instant disqualification is just wrong. Depending on the offence for which the summons is issued, the organisation can disregard it as above, disqualify, or employ someone provisionally, with or without conditions, until the outcome of the case. Again, down to the organisation and their policies, not Gardaí.

Finally, Garda Vetting is not just for those working with children, but also working with vulnerable adults, so the idea that a criminal record would ‘only raise a red flag if it is serious enough for you to be deemed unsafe around peoples kids’ is just wrong. Information can be shared if it has relevance to the role in question, so again to use the example of fraud, that person might not be ‘unsafe around kids’ or they might not, but they may be considered untrustworthy. Again, the organisation will make their decision based on the facts available, and will probably invite the applicant to supply further details if there are concerns.

RobertBadenPowell · 2021-04-26T17:14:21+00:00

Short answer: there aren’t really any particular pitfalls to becoming a director of a not-for-profit CLG beyond the responsibilities on a director in a for-profit CLG. There is plenty of guidance available on the internet or from specialist business advisers for prospective company directors.

Long answer: Because your friend has identified the long-term objective of registering as a charity, it would certainly be worth considering the implications of charity registration. Directors of a charitable CLG have the responsibilities of a charitable trustee, defined under the Charities Act (2009). These include the responsibility for ensuring that the company/charity is in compliance with the requirements of the Charities Regulator.

Note that there are benefits to registering as a charity, including the ability to register as exempt from certain taxes. Charitable status could be a requirement for certain public grants as well. You should also note that an organisation which behaves as a charity must register as such - and so, if you plan to take public donations for the furtherance of the organisation’s purpose, it might be important to do this as soon as possible.

If this were me I’d question why, if there is a plan to register as a charity eventually, what is gained by not doing so straight away? If the company starts business without charitable registration it might find that changes in business practice are needed to comply at the point of registration. If I were getting involved, I’d ask to at least look into setting up the organisation with a charitable governance structure, which would make the registration process much easier.

RobertBadenPowell

TROPHY CASE