Mr. Liam Berney:

I thank the Deputy for her questions. Like our colleagues in SIPTU, we did not argue for a ban on retirement age in employment contracts for the reasons set out by Ms Ryan. We argued in our submission to the pensions commission that there should be a recognition of long contribution records. If a worker has an extensive contribution record over his or her period in work, that should be recognised by way of early access to the State pension. To some extent, the commission has travelled that road with us. It has recommended that people should have access to the State pension at 65 providing they have a particular level of contributions. We would argue that the commission has pitched the level of contributions a bit too high, which is something the committee might look at in its review of the commission's report.

I completely agree with Ms Ryan on the point around why there was an increased referral of cases to the WRC over the period to which she referred. It was because, at that particular point in time, people were beginning to be caught in the clash between their retirement age and the availability of the State pension. It is important that the Oireachtas takes action to implement the recommendation of the commission that the retirement age contained in a retirement contract should at least be the same as the age at which people have access to the State pension. Recognition of long contribution records is an issue to which we also should give attention. It is an important consideration.