Gay Mitchell (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)

At a recent occupational health and safety summit, the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with responsibility for labour affairs, Deputy Killeen, made a number of points. Among them were that Ireland's workforce is set to experience rapid ageing from 2025 onwards and that increased rates of life expectancy for both men and women pose significant challenges for the work environment. He argued that early or mandatory retirement also presents significant challenges for our future labour market. He pointed out that in 2004 the Central Statistics Office projected that the population aged 65 years and over would increase by 538,000 from 2006 to 2031, an increase of 116%, with no corresponding increase in the younger working age population.

The Minister of State argued that the cost of funding age-related payments in 2005 was in the order of €3 billion. He argued that while this ageing was not taking place as quickly as in some of our European partners, there was no doubt that this would become a significant issue for Ireland in the longer term and that the NCB in 2006 predicted that by 2050 there would be less than two persons of working age per person over 65. He argued that the cultural mindset change that is required by both employers and employees to encourage older workers to remain in the labour market is one which the national strategy on health and well-being at work would endeavour to encourage through promotion, prevention and rehabilitation and so enable them to avail of the education and employment opportunities as envisaged in the agreement. He argued that, consequently, unlike our European partners, we have time and opportunity to address this through the strategy, which is designed to maintain and, where necessary, improve the work ability of the older workforce so they can work healthily to full retirement age and beyond full retirement age if they wish and retire healthily.

This is what the Minister of State stated at this summit. Interestingly, the European country in which men can expect the longest period of illness-free life after the age of 65 is Cyprus, which has an average of 12.6 years. Cyprus is also the EU member state with one of the highest proportions of people aged between 65 and 69 in employment — 20% against an EU average of 8%. I raise this issue in the context of a case involving a constituent who has worked for a FÁS scheme for the last six years, the last three of which he has worked as a supervisor under a jobs initiative in a parish hall. This scheme is administered by a partnership board. The man took retirement in 1994 as a result of an occupational accident and now takes home €296 out of €320 gross. He signed a contract in June 2006 to continue for the year and has now been informed that he must retire the day before he turns 66. He will be 66 years of age on 31 December 2006.

This man carries out an important function locally which is badly needed. As I understand it and bearing in mind the comments made by the Minister of State which I have just cited, Government policy is to encourage those who reach the age of 66 to continue to be available for work if they so choose. This is for a variety of reasons, including the issue of longevity to which I referred. When is Government policy likely to become consistent with its stated aims? For the sake of consistency of policy and, particularly in this case for the sake of the community, I ask the Minister to direct FÁS to change its policy so FÁS supervisors and workers can be retained after the age of 66 where they wish to continue and where the community wishes to retain them. FÁS tells me this is a matter of policy and policy is made by the Government and the Dáil. I ask the Minister to review and change this policy. This man will be not be 66 for another two months and wishes to continue serving his community, which needs him. He is not being paid a fortune but he is engaged in a very worthwhile job and is very badly needed. I ask the Minister to change the policy and allow him to continue working.

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