Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In the short time available to me I will focus on one particular aspect of the motion tabled by my colleagues, Deputies John Brady and Denise Mitchell, namely, the call on the Government to reinstate the State transition pension in order that workers can once again have the option of retiring, with the support of a pension, when they reach 65 years of age. I have been contacted by people who are being forced to retire at the age of 65 years. I am not embarrassed to say some of them were my classmates in school, as the clock ticks towards this major milestone in our lives. I emphasise, however, that I was one of the youngest in my class. Those whom I have met are in good health and enjoy their work. People who have financial obligations and mortgages to pay simply cannot afford to be unemployed with no pension entitlement. This is wholly unfair. It is wrong that Irish law currently permits employers to impose mandatory retirement ages in their employees' contracts, in effect, facilitating ageism and creating a set of second class employment rights for older workers. This should not be allowed to happen.

An argument used to support the current legal provision is that if people retire at an earlier age, there will be more youth employment. Such statements have been dismissed time and again and I reject them. A 2014 report from the IZA World of Labor research institute found the following:

There is no trade-off in the employment of young and old workers: Higher employment for older workers coincides with higher employment for younger workers ... Reducing the employment of older persons does not provide more job opportunities for younger persons.

From a financial perspective, it is not in the country's interests to allow employers to impose this mandatory retirement age. A worker forced into retirement at the age of 65 years is entitled to jobseeker’s benefit of €188 at the maximum rate until he or she turns 66 years.

Financially, it makes sense for an older worker to continue to contribute to the Exchequer rather than receiving payments from it. The abolition of mandatory retirement should be a priority and I call on all Deputies to support the motion.

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