David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to clarify something. I do not expect the Minister to reply. The point I was making was about people being forced to work. I agree with her about choice and if people want to work longer, I fully support their right to do so. I was talking about a situation where the pension age has been changed to 66 and could increase, thereby forcing people to work longer. When people have jobs that are physical in nature, it does take a toll on their bodies and they should not be forced to work until they are 66, 67 or 68. We have not properly thought that through. I was not talking about the social welfare services being inflexible or forcing people to do anything. I am talking about people being forced to work longer or go on to jobseeker's benefit because the pension age was increased. These are people who might have worked in industry or construction and because of the nature of the job, it is unreasonable to expect them to work longer.