Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have always believed that when it comes to those who are working and seeking promotion, if you are able enough, you are old enough. By the same token, I have always felt that when it comes to the matter of retirement, if you are able enough, you are young enough. Sinn Féin has long argued that there needs to be a choice. We have long called for the abolition of mandatory retirement, as we have always said that 65 is the age at which people should be able to retire, if they wish to do so. My party has previously tabled legislation to give effect to this. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions also supports this move. We need to recognise that, every year, workers are forced out of jobs because of their age. That might not be their choice. They may have no determining health issues and may well enjoy their job, which might give them a sense of purpose. However, because their contract states they must retire at a given age, they are required to do so. That is unfair and it is why I welcome this discussion on the Bill.

Given that we are talking about retirement and the adverse consequences that can arise, I will mention a case relevant to my home county of Galway. It concerns a significant number of psychiatric nurses who had retired but were asked to come out of retirement to help to deal with backlogs and other staff-related pressures. Despite being told that there would be no adverse consequences to their pension entitlements as a result of this, they are now being told there was a decision made and a circular issued which changed this position, but they were never told about it. One man who called into my clinic showed me the letter he had received. It says that he now must repay €26,000. The letter he received states, "If you are in a position to repay this in full, you may do so by cheque". This man is in no position to repay this in part or in full. He is extremely concerned, and he is not alone in that regard. He has colleagues who have also been receiving these letters. This has all arisen due to a new circular, namely, Circular 24/22. These people came out of retirement only on the basis of the assurances they were given that there would be no negative impacts on their pensions. To say they have found out the hard way that was not true is quite an understatement. Given that we are talking about the issue of pensions and changes to the system of mandatory retirement, I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight their case. I have raised it with the relevant Minister and it has gone on to the HSE but it is an issue of particular concern for those involved, who are being hit with these extraordinarily high charges and sums to be repaid simply because they were never told that the circular had been issued. They did not know and now they are being asked to repay huge sums of money.

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