Mr. Henry Gaynor:

In our place of work there is no contract to the effect that we must go at 65, but it has been the custom and practice for the past 20 years. One of the documents provided on the employment law website states that if an employer can show that the normal retirement age in his place of work is 65, that can be acceptable as a retirement age. In the system we had for the past 40 years, everyone knew where they stood. In the private sector one worked up to 65, retired and got one’s pension. In the public sector, whatever one had applied. When the Minister for Social Protection started interfering with this, she grabbed the money but left the problems. We have been campaigning for the past three years and I do not think she is interested in tackling the problems. She sounds like a broken record, saying we are living longer and we must work longer.