Mr. Ger Deering:

First, as someone fast approaching the age we are talking about, I completely disagree with any discrimination in this area and with anyone being withdrawn from any scheme because of age. I do not know, but I guess that it was not part of some bigger process at all. I would say that somebody thought or felt that people aged over 66 do not need to go to work, to go places or to socialise. I would like to think that we live in a different society now, where we accept that we facilitate people who want to participate in whatever part of society they want to participate in for as long as they want to do so.

I do not know but I have no evidence that it was part of a broader process of getting people of that age off certain schemes. I believe, however, that somebody in their wisdom thought that people over a certain age did not need to participate in society, and I fundamentally disagree with that approach.