Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman for his latitude. As the Minister said, this issue is happening right across the public service and we are seeing judicial cases dragging the public service to make progress on this. Let us, therefore, be proactive and try to move this forward.

Can the Minister clarify the last point she raised about SI 335 of 1951? Is it a matter for the Commissioner to initiate that process with the Minister or vice versa? Surely, the Minister would agree that somebody at the age of 60 has an awful lot to give in terms of experience, energy and commitment. Forcing people to retire because of what was policy many decades ago is now depriving them of their chance to continue to make a contribution, and it is depriving society of their experience and knowledge. This policy belongs to a different era and is in urgent need of change.

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