Half of Ireland's workforce has no pension and a Bank of Ireland survey is blaming lack of consumer knowledge.

Seven in 10 people paying into a pension plan say they know only a little or nothing about pensions, according to the survey, while two-thirds of the people surveyed who do not have a pension say they know nothing at all about pensions. Only 1 per cent of the 400 people interviewed claimed to have any real knowledge of pensions and the types available.

Mr Pat Surlis, national pensions sales manager at Bank of Ireland Life, said the findings highlighted the need for pension providers to promote the benefits of pensions and particularly the advantages of starting early.

"Of those without a pension, a staggering 33 per cent said they had never thought about it, yet 31 per cent worry that they are not saving enough to support themselves when the retire," said Mr Surlis.

Recent figures from the Central Statistics Office's National Household Survey show that just one out of every two workers in the State has private pension cover with only a minority of self-employed people covered.

The Pensions Board aims to increase pension coverage to 70 per cent through the introduction next year of Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs), a new portable, low-charge type of pension. In the survey, starting full-time employment was the primary trigger for taking out a pension for 42 per cent of respondents. The other key triggers were getting married (27 per cent), buying a first home (6 per cent) and starting a family (6 per cent).

Men are much more likely to make pension provision, according to the survey. Only one-third of women interviewed said they intended to start a pension.

"When you consider that women have an increased life expectancy over men of at least five years it is even more important for them to plan their retirement early if they want to minimise the cost of their pension and maintain their current lifestyle in retirement," said Mr Surlis.