John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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No, only where there are difficulties within the employment and if the employer is forcing the hand of the employee to retire. Ultimately, that is where it will lead. The difficulty up to now is that the directive from the EU, which was passed 17 years ago, was only incorporated into legislation here in 2015. The courts have tended to be interpret it in the employer's favour. There have been many examples. In the case of Paul Doylev. ESB International, the court believed that compulsory retirement could be applied to ensure cohesion among all employees so it ruled against Mr. Doyle in that case. In this case, forced retirement was essentially allowed to facilitate promotion within the ESB and that is the difficulty with the interpretation. This is why I am seeking to bring in a higher level of proof where clear actuarial and other evidence will determine these cases if they end up in the Employment Appeals Tribunal.