Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We have to finish up now. I thank the witnesses who came here today. Senator White alluded earlier to the marriage bar that was brought in to force women out of their jobs when they got married years ago and was subsequently lifted.

There was a major debate on the lifting of the marriage bar. The argument was that men would lose their jobs or not get them if married women were allowed to work, but the sky did not fall in. The lifting of the mandatory retirement age is an issue of equality and concerns getting rid of discrimination at all levels. The age of 65 years is the new 55 and I am nearer to 65 than to 55. Believe me, we will do our best to have the legislation coming down the track enacted. I ask organisations such as the HSE that have people like Margaret Haughton who is due to retire to take another look at the issue of retirement age. In one year organisations will not have a choice because the legislation will have been enacted. I plead with them to look with compassion, honesty and equality at what they are doing.