Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman for giving me the opportunity to raise what I believe is a very important issue. With the increasing numbers of older people in the country, a demand for long-serving staff naturally increases. We need as many of our most experienced staff to stay in practice as long as possible. Surely, what we should be doing is incentivising them to work for longer.

People are living longer, as can be seen in the changes in the population aged over 65, which has increased by 19.1% since 2011. Every year in Ireland older workers are forced out of their jobs for no other reason than that they reach a certain age.

Some two thirds of firefighters in Ireland are retained firefighters who are not full-time but who are fully trained and paid on a per-call basis. Most firefighters in small towns and villages would work in that retained system. The normal retirement age is 55, but firefighters who are physically capable of working beyond the preferred age of 55 have an extended optional period in which to exit the service, subject to certain conditions. Such firefighters have the option to continue working for a defined limited period, subject to compulsory annual medical assessment measured against agreed standards. The extended optional period is up to 58 years. There are retained firefighters throughout the country who would like to see this period extended to 60, and I believe they should have that option.

I appreciate that an agreement was reached between the Local Government Management Services Board and the trade unions involved, SIPTU and the ATGWU, in November 2002, but that is 15 years ago. From that process, an expert group's report on retirement age recommended that the retirement age for the retained firefighters should remain at 55, with provision for an annual extension, subject to medical assessment, up to 58 years of age.

Firefighters, like members of the Garda, should have the option to continue to serve until they reach 60 years of age. Mandatory retirement ages, set arbitrarily on the basis of the worker having lived for a set number of years and not on his or her capability to do the job, constitute a kind of barrier to an age-friendly society. There is evidence that longer working lives have beneficial effects on individuals' physical and psychological well-being. Evidence also shows that workers' productivity does not necessarily decline with age and any decline in physical capacity is easily compensated by qualities and skills acquired through many years of experience.

Mandatory retirement ages take out a significant amount of fire service expertise and leave fire departments that struggle with recruitment and retention. I recognise the rigours of the job and I support the health and safety aspect of legislation, but all firefighters should be treated equally in terms of health and safety, regardless of age. Retained firefighters who are physically capable of working beyond the age of 55 should have the option to continue working until 60, subject to compulsory annual medical assessment.

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