Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. He should note that policy responsibility for equality legislation, which covers discrimination on various grounds including age, rests with my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality.

We have robust equality legislation in Ireland which protects people from discrimination on a range of grounds, including age. The relevant Acts protect prospective employees at the recruitment stage. Both direct and indirect discrimination are prohibited throughout employment. Ireland’s body of employment and equality legislation, including the Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2011, protects all persons legally employed in Ireland on an employer-employee basis, and provides robust safeguards for employees. Under the terms of the Workplace Relations Act 2015, the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, is mandated to mediate and adjudicate on cases taken by complainants to enforce their rights under employment, equality and industrial relations legislation. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, which comes within the remit of the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality, can provide advice and assistance to individuals who consider that they have been discriminated against, including on the age ground. The commission can also provide practical assistance and advice on how to take a claim under the Employment Equality Acts.

On training and upskilling in the context of employment, the Department of Education and Skills and its further education and training authority, Solas, aim to ensure further education and training is inclusive and recognises that all citizens have the potential to develop their skill sets if afforded the opportunity and support to do so. Furthermore, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform produced a report in August 2016, Fuller Working Lives, which identifies a set of framework principles to underpin policy in this area and which makes various recommendations which will be implemented by the relevant Departments. My Department has asked the WRC to prepare a draft code of practice to set out best industrial relations practice in managing the engagement between employers and employees in the run-up to retirement.

See this speech in context