Paul Bradford (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the publication of the Bill by Senator White. I hope we will find the parliamentary process open enough and generous enough to ensure the idea will remain at least on the table. The Bill is about older people. I hope we will look at the Bill not through the prism of old politics because, as we know, in the old politics that has ruined this country, the Government proposes and the Opposition opposes, and no matter what the Opposition will say, the Government will say it cannot be done.

I listened with interest to the response of the Minister, Deputy Shatter, who has outlined some clear issues which arise and which would have to be dealt with, but I am glad to hear he and his Government colleagues remain open to the broader concept of the ideas being suggested by Senator Mary White. Of course, Senator White's proposal speaks for itself and it has to be seriously considered into the future.

The statue of Charles Stewart Parnell in O'Connell Street quotes him as saying no man should put a halt to the march of a nation. What right do any of us have, politically speaking, to put a halt to the working life of a man or a woman who wants to work beyond the age of 65? Society has evolved so much, and work-life balance has changed so much, that we must respond in a meaningful fashion. We have all heard the very sad stories of people whose lives, physically as well as mentally, almost end when they reach so-called pension age, when a person goes from being a valuable contributor to society to being simply described as a pensioner.

Senator White mentioned the inconvenient fact that we, the politicians, have no retirement age - across the globe, one can point to François Mitterrand, Helmut Kohl or Ronald Reagan. Those three gentlemen, among others, were working to rid the world of the scourge of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union when they were all of pension age or beyond. What is good enough for politicians, sports stars and television personalities may just be good enough for the so-called ordinary man and woman.

We must keep our minds open to this type of proposal. The trade unions must also be open to thinking afresh and realise it is not the aspiration of every worker to reach 65 years of age and claim old age and work pensions. Many see possibilities beyond that deadline. I hope we will find, from a parliamentary perspective, a facility to keep this item on the agenda because as a society we have changed so much, including in term of life expectancy. Fortunately, everything is changing in a favourable way and we must think along these lines.

An argument being made about jobs - in fairness, not by the Minister - is that the old person must resign or retire in order that a young person can get the job. That is the politics and economics of musical chairs. The argument is that there can be only so many jobs and the economy can only be so large; therefore, one person must go in order that another can take the job. I am not trying to get rid of the Minister just yet. Let us think a little beyond that towards a society where we can aspire to create the extra job for the young person without the older person being pushed out the door.

I thank Senator Mary White for bringing this interesting and thought-provoking Bill before the Seanad. She has heard what the Minister said and probably knows what will happen to the Bill now from a parliamentary perspective. Like her colleague, Senator Terry Leyden, I hope she will park the matter today. I certainly would feel very embarrassed if I had to vote against her proposal. This goes back to the notion of new and old politics. What a joke it is that we have to vote "No" to a proposal to which we want to vote "Yes". I ask Senator Mary White not to include me in that regard. I hope we will keep the issue actively on the agenda, in conjunction with the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton. I also hope we will reach a stage in society where we will not call a halt to the march of 65 year old men and women who have an enormous amount to offer our society and the economy.