Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend Senator White on bringing forward this Private Members' Bill, which allows us to debate the topic. Senator White is known nationally for her work in this area.

She quite rightly insisted that she should lead the charge in respect of it. The Senator has written many policy papers on this topic and I would recommend them to any Member of this or the Lower House, particularly as the level of research, encompassing both national and international best practice, which went into them is extraordinary.

The Bill before the House stems from a policy which, of all things, was created by the Germans when the wily Bismarck decided to create a retirement age of 65. This was by no means an arbitrary choice because Bismarck new, as a result of the statistical evidence, that most people in his time died before reaching the age of 65 and, therefore, the state would be obliged to pay out very little money. This was a very good election gimmick of the type with which some of those present in the House might be familiar.