Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this Bill. I want to be positive about it as it is only right. We have a situation where when people reach 65 years of age, most jobs say, "That is it, you are finished". There is the indignity of having to go to the local dole office. We need to end that and give people the option, if they so wish, to continue working. This Bill seeks to address this and while there are a few things I would go a bit further with, it is a good step forward.

On top of that, we have a well-known shortage of skills. Many people who are forced into retirement have certain skills we need badly, particularly in the trades. That knowledge needs to be passed on. People should have a right to work until 70 years of age if they so wish. The problem with forced retirement is that you are forced in this situation, in many cases, against your will and are forced into economic dependency. The worst thing is to have to go to a labour exchange and sign onto the dole. We cannot continue forcing this on people. We must give people the option. It is legitimate that we do so. There is no justification for continuing the way we are.

The unions broadly welcome this Bill and it will be well received. This will be easy enough to do in the public sector. It is already there and you can continue to work until you are 70. In the private sector, it may not be as clear. Some private employers, however, recognise the value of these workers if they have skills built up over many years. In some cases, people have worked for 50 years, having started working when they were 15 or 16 years of age.

While not applicable to this legislation, the Government needs to move on with the commitment to bring in the mandatory right to be represented by a trade union and the right to collective bargaining. We are out of sync with other EU states on this. We are currently only one of three or four who does not have it and we need to move on this. We have the quirky situation that you have a right to join a trade union - in some jobs you could be sacked for that - but you do not have the right to be represented by a trade union and the right to collective bargaining.

Many workers are being mistreated. We need to provide that protection for them.

In regard to the clause in Part 3 of the Bill enabling recourse to the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, that redress is welcome. I acknowledge that.

I would like to mention a situation I have mentioned in the House before. People over 70 years of age who drive school buses are forced to retire. They cannot drive the school bus anymore but they can drive the big coach to the swimming pool or to Dublin for a tour or to Cork or Belfast anytime during the day. I ask that this be taken back. I say this to every Minister. In answer to a parliamentary question the relevant Minister, Deputy O'Brien, told me that there is a commitment to delivery of a skilled workforce to maintain and operate public transport vehicles, and said that the Department "has established a Public Transport Workforce Taskforce to identify options to assist with resolving these issues". With all respect to civil servants, when you start setting up interdepartmental task forces there is a problem. It is a straightforward problem. People over 70 cannot drive the school bus with ten or 12 kids on it. If they pass a strict medical test and an eyesight test each year, let them continue driving until the age of 75. That is an option. There is going to be a mighty shortage. The Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, will hear about this in Cavan-Monaghan in August. There is going to be a shortage of school bus drivers. It is already happening. People have finished in the past few weeks. I spoke to a person last night who was forced into compulsory retirement. They have been driving trucks and buses all their lives and never had an accident. We need to give these people the option. I ask the Minister of State to take that back and for the civil servants to take note of it.

The Bill is a positive step forward. We need to go further in separate legislation to bring in the mandatory right to collective bargaining and to be represented by a trade union. I will be supporting this Bill.

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