Mr. Fergus Whelan:

There are quaint elements to the public service and I did not realise the practices followed until I started going into this issue. In the private sector, when people reach their 65th birthday, under most contracts of employment, as they stand, the employer is free to run them out the door. I acknowledge the European dimension, but that is the practice. However, in certain grades in the public service there are public servants who are not established and do not have long service. The practice in some organisations is that they are regarded as having reached 65 years on the last day before they turn 66. They can, therefore, be employed for a year longer than their private sector equivalents, which is good.