Mr. Henry Gaynor:

The European Court of Justice takes each case on its merits. It has found in favour of the employer and the employee. From what I can gather, an employer must be able to show that he or she has a valid reason for letting a person go. An employer cannot just say to an employee that he or she must go on reaching 65 years. If the employer says, "I have a young person here whom I want to promote," then that is considered a valid reason. Let me give the example of an engineering firm that has trained apprentices who have almost completed training, but also employs older fitters or electricians. In that case, an employer would have a valid reason to let the older guys go at 65, because he or she has new guys trained. That is acceptable, from what I can gather, but please remember that I am not a lawyer or barrister. Mr. Stephen O'Sullivan has created a website, employmentlawireland.wordpress.com, which lists a few examples of cases in which the court has found in favour of either the employer or the employee. This section of law is a grey area and is unclear.