Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Senator Cullinane on this point, on which I have spoken before in committee and in the House. For people who work all their lives and are obliged to retire at 65, because that is what their contracts state, and who perhaps get a lump sum having paid into a pension scheme, it is very unfair they are means tested for three months before they go onto the State pension. Does the Minister know whether the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation can change this? Does the finish date come under employment law? Perhaps we should find out whether the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation can change this and allow people the option, if they want it, to retire at 65 or to work on until pension age.

It is very unfair that people are getting caught in this trap of having to be means tested for three months. As with the transitional jobseeker's payment for lone parents and retained fire fighters, it might be possible to make a change in this regard. Why would a person have to be available for work at 65 years of age when it is very unlikely that person is going to be employed by anyone? The Minister might consider extending this facility to such people also.