Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate, as the Minister does, that older people work for a variety of reasons, but that does not mean they should not be fairly paid for the work they do. The Tánaiste announced the living wage will be benchmarked at 60% rather than 66%. I think it should be 66%. We should have a realistic and credible plan to move in that direction because that is the only way those affected will be taken out of poverty. I am glad the Tánaiste accepts low pay is not just, or mainly, a feature of the lives of younger workers. There are those who do not anticipate higher earnings later in their career. We need to move much quicker towards a living wage in consultation with businesses. It is pretty handy to say it will happen but not in the lifetime of this Government. The Minister really should be making a greater effort to move in this direction quicker.

When will we see legislation to abolish mandatory retirement clauses?

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