Dr. Enda Shanahan:

Referring to what Deputy McGrath was saying, I see age discrimination applying to all ages from a 17 or 18 year old right up to a 65 year old and older. I do not distinguish between them. Age discrimination is just that. I do not care what the age is. What the Deputy says is correct. People who lose their jobs in their 50s have great trouble getting into the workplace because they are considered too old. That is age discrimination and it should be made illegal. It is downright wrong and takes no account of the experience or the skills of that person. The Deputy is right in saying that the companies are probably employing younger workers because they can pay them less and treat them like dirt. It is not exclusive to what I was saying. All the research says - there is a lot of it and I can give the references to anybody who wants them because I have a lot of them-----