Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate what the Minister is saying. My experience is that more people are being asked to retire at 65 who do not want to, who feel they have a lot more to give and who are quite willing and anxious to keep working. There are many fit, able, capable and young 65 year olds out there who are quite anxious to keep working and who find it rather humiliating to have to retire and then go on jobseeker's payments when they have so much left to give. As the Minister said, it is important the contribution of people working on Tús and CE schemes is valued. Going forward, it is important people are not put into that demoralising situation where they are asked to retire when they do not feel that is where they should be at and, more importantly, that their contribution is recognised.

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