Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It must be noted that there is no legally mandated retirement age in the State and I do not think that is true of any other state. The age at which employees in Ireland retire is therefore a matter for the contract between the employer and the employee. While such a contract may have been entered into when the retirement age was 65 years, this is in the context of previous State pension arrangements. There is no legal impediment to any employer or employee agreeing to increase the duration of the employee's employment for either one or two years, depending on when he or she plans to retire, if both parties wish to do so. In that regard, the Workplace Relations Commission has produced a code of practice on exactly this position on longer working hours. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has also published guidance material for employees and employers who use fixed-term contracts beyond what used to be the normal retirement age of 55 years. The reason this was changed - I bow to the wisdom of Deputies who were around before Deputy Brady and I were - is that people are living longer and healthier lives. This is a great thing and we should not diminish it or make it out to be bad. Many people want to work longer in their careers, and we must do whatever we can to help them to do so.

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