Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The practice in social welfare offices throughout the country in regard to older people is what I would call highly pragmatic. I have not heard of many cases of, as the Senator suggests, people being forced. In fact, I would say the one thing notable for its absence in the Irish social welfare system is anybody being forced. What we have is a highly organised support structure to enable people to go back to education, training and employment.

It is also important to recognise that, alongside the people to whom the Senator referred, who may find difficulty working as they become older because they have been doing hard manual work or outdoor work, there are many older people who want to work for a longer period of time. There are two sides to this. Because of advances in nutrition, medicine, lifestyles and so on, there are many people in this position. I heard someone on a radio programme the other day suggesting 50 was the new 30, so I suppose we can all live in hope. Because of this, there is a significant number of people who would like to be able to work longer, perhaps with diminished hours and so on.

That is why I am a strong supporter of extending contractual rights for people working to later ages. That legislation is not the responsibility of my Department. Longevity in Ireland is climbing very rapidly thanks to nutrition, standards of living and lifestyle patterns. It is anticipated in all developed countries that there is a significant number of people who would like to be engaged in the workforce for a longer period. Equally, there are other people for whom that may be more difficult. We should remember that if people have serious physical difficulties, our disability provisions within social welfare legislation are generous in comparison with any European country.