Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Fine Gael has a problem with retirement, older workers and how it treats those who want to retire in general. On the one hand, it contested the 2020 election on the basis of increasing the State pension age to 67 by 2021 and to 68 by 2028. As recently as three years ago, the former Minister, Heather Humphreys, described the current pension age of 66 as non-sustainable. On the other hand, it has taken until now to introduce this Bill which will abolish the mandatory retirement.

It is unfortunate it has taken Government so long to do so. In the intervening years, many older workers were effectively forced out of their jobs and, in some instances, they would have experienced undue financial hardship arising from the dithering and delays to do in part with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Fine Gael's problem with retirement is laid bare in the fact that while it was quite willing to rush to raise the State pension age, which was and remains wrong, it did not feel the need at the time to marry the wrongful proposal with the removal of the mandatory retirement.

Fine Gael's solution was effectively, after a lifetime of work, to send those people on to the dole queue. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael now seek plaudits for a programme for Government commitment not to increase the pension further and for implementing this reform years after negative impacts of its pension age increase took effect. There are real negative impacts. People were worse off financially and there was also the social impact of forcing people out of the workplace.

Sinn Féin's position is clear. We welcome this Bill, which is in line with the legislation previously introduced by Sinn Féin. We also believe after a lifetime of work, alongside the choice to continue work if they wish to do so, people deserve the right to retire on a full pension at 65. It is a wrong yet to be righted. Worse still, it is a wrong the Government has yet to acknowledge.

While welcoming this Bill, I ask the Minister to acknowledge the increase in the State pension age was wrong. If the Minister does not acknowledge that, at least acknowledge the ham-fisted way the Government went about doing this without removing the mandatory retirement compounded the harm it did.

See this speech in context