Ms Joanne Hyde:

I am the chairperson of the employment and equality committee of the Law Society of Ireland. I am accompanied by the vice chairman, Mr. Loughlin Deegan and another member, Ms Deirdre Malone. The employment inequality committee of the Law Society of Ireland is made up of a number of specialist lawyers in the area of employment and pensions. In making our submission I am keen to point out and make clear that we are not here to represent the interests of the profession or the interests of employment lawyers generally. Our submission serves to offer our expertise in so far as any legislation introduced is compliant with developments in EU law and does not contradict any existing provisions of domestic law.

From a legal perspective the context is that the current provision in the Employment Equality Act 1998 permits employers to set a compulsory retirement age. Certainly, it does not prevent them from setting a compulsory retirement age. It does not set out any requirement that such compulsory retirement age must be objective. While that may have been in compliance with the law in 1998, there have been developments at European Court of Justice level in the interim which indicate that setting a retirement age is potentially a type of age discrimination. However, those cases suggest that in certain circumstances where there are objective justifications, it may be possible to set a retirement age.

We have made submissions relating to Deputy Ferris's Bill and the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, both of which would ensure Irish law was compliant with developments in law at the Court of Justice of the European Union. The two Bills are incompatible, however, and could not be introduced together because they are conflicting. Our role and our submission serves to ensure that any legislation brought in is legally clear and from an operating perspective does not create any conflict with either EU law or any other provision of Irish employment equality law. My colleague, Ms Deirdre Malone, will comment specifically on the Bill.