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

Yes. We will see how we go.

I commend my colleagues, Deputies Brady and Mitchell, on bringing this important Bill forward. I also wish, as Deputy Brady has already done, to acknowledge the work done by the former Dáil Deputy, Anne Ferris, who brought this same Bill forward in 2014. I thank her for all her work on this issue.

What this Bill ultimately aims to do is end discrimination and give older workers a choice when it comes to retirement. In my opinion, it is a no-brainer. I am sure every Deputy and Senator elected to these Houses has been approached on this subject by people who have been forced to leave their jobs as soon as they reached the age of 65 or perhaps even earlier. They are people who are in good health and who enjoy their work. People who have financial obligations and mortgages to pay simply cannot afford to be unemployed and with no pension entitlement. That is wholly unfair. It is wrong that Irish law currently permits employers to impose mandatory retirement ages via their employees' contracts, in effect, facilitating ageism and creating a set of second-class employment rights for older workers. That should not be allowed happen. The employee should have the right to choose when he or she will retire, not the employer.

This Bill is supported by numerous organisations, including Age Action Ireland and Active Retirement Ireland. The United Nations Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing called for older persons to be able to work as long as they want to work and are able to do so. Interestingly, in a Eurobarometer survey conducted across the European Union in 2012 it was found that 61% of respondents felt that people should be allowed to work beyond retirement age. In Ireland, this figure was 73%, which is considerably greater than the average return across the survey.

An argument used to support the current legal provision is that if people retire at an earlier age there will be more employment opportunities for younger people. Such statements have been dismissed time and time again, and I believe the evidence supports the contention that it is simply not true. The experience and wealth of knowledge held by an older person at work can be taught to younger workers coming in. The World Health Organization has recommended the elimination of mandatory retirement ages and stated, "Policies enforcing mandatory retirement ages do not help create jobs for youth, as was initially envisaged, but they reduce older workers’ ability to contribute and reduce an organization’s opportunities to benefit from the capabilities of older workers." That is also acknowledged in the Government’s National Positive Ageing Strategy which was published in April 2013. In regard to employment, the strategy states:

There is evidence that longer working lives have beneficial effects on individuals’ physical and psychological wellbeing. Some evidence also shows that workers’ productivity does not necessarily decline with age - any decline in physical capacity is easily compensated by qualities and skills acquired through experience.

There is no doubt but that one of the greatest challenges facing us as a country is sustaining the State pension into the future. By 2046, 1.4 million people will be aged over 65 - or so the experts tell us - compared to the 530,000 recorded in the last census. This would represent a staggering increase. As it stands, a worker forced into retirement at the age of 65 is entitled to jobseeker's benefit of €188 per week at the maximum rate until he or she turns 66. Financially, it makes sense for an older worker to continue to contribute to the Exchequer instead of receiving payments from it.

The fact that the Bill was voted through in 2014 is a source of hope, but it is deeply regrettable that nothing further was ever done with it. Mar sin, iarraim ar gach Teachta vóta a chaitheamh ar son an Bhille seo. I urge all Deputies to vote in favour of the Bill and to ensure that, collectively, we address this anomaly once and for all and have it closed down. I commend the Bill to the Members and hope they note that many of them will already have supported it. I hope this is indicative of how they intend to address the Bill on this occasion.

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