Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am a constituent of the Minister's.

The purpose of this Bill is to ensure that people cannot be discriminated against in the workplace on grounds of age. Over the past 40 years, the Oireachtas has introduced many progressive legislative measures to ensure that people in the workplace are not discriminated against on grounds of gender, race or sexual orientation. We all welcomed those measures but for some reason we have turned a blind eye to a far more prevalent form of discrimination in the workplace, namely, discrimination based on age - accurately described as old age.

Before I say why I believe this Bill is a good idea, I will explain what it does not propose. This is not a Bill that seeks to enable people in old age who no longer have the capacity to carry out certain employment functions to remain working and carrying out those functions. Accordingly, it is not a Bill that seeks to ensure that 80 year-old pilots with fading eyesight can remain in their jobs. As with all such important jobs, people should only be permitted to carry out those jobs if they have the physical and mental capacity to do so. This Bill seeks to achieve fairness and equality in the workplace. Why should able-bodied people, who have full mental capacity, be required to face compulsory retirement at 65 years of age? If a proposal were to be advanced prohibiting any person from being a Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas if over 65 years of age, it would be rejected by both Houses.