Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 7:

In page 4, to delete line 31 and substitute the following:"Act 2005.

(6) The Minister shall, within three months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before the Oireachtas a report on the public servants who were forced to retire between 6 December 2017 and the commencement of this Act due to reaching the age of 65 years and on potential remedies to assist this cohort of worker.".".

During a debate on a previous amendment, I made the case for a report which would seek to address the unfairness associated with the legislation having been published this time last year as an interim measure with a view to it being implemented much more quickly than it has been. The Minister's decision on amendment No. 2, in my name, was pre-empted by the amendment being disallowed on the basis that it would impose a charge on the State. This amendment proposes that a report be laid before the Oireachtas within three months to highlight and analyse the options that may be available to correct the unfairness I have mentioned, to set out the potential costs to the Exchequer of such an approach and to clarify whether there are any potential administrative barriers to addressing this issue, as mentioned earlier. I think such a report would allow us to be in a much more informed position than we are at present.