Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend the comments of Senator Black. I put the support of my party behind her call for a Minister to come to the House on this issue. The indifference of the Government and the previous Government to the apartheid regime that operates in occupied Palestine is, frankly, unforgivable.

I wish to raise the issue of the pension age. As the Leader will know, Sinn Féin was a proud supporter of the Stop 67 campaign. The reason for that support was very simple. We do not believe it is right to tell workers who reach the age of 66 that the State cannot afford for them to retire and draw down a pension and, as such, they must wait another year. It is not good enough to tell construction workers who have worked for 45 years in a physically demanding, backbreaking job that they cannot retire at the age of 66. It is not good enough for retail workers or healthcare workers.

The issue is back in the news because the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, set up a commission on pensions last week and there was real concern about the balance on that commission. Orla O'Connor, the director of the National Women's Council of Ireland, stated:

There is currently no civil society gender perspective [on the new commission]. This means the direct experiences of women will not be reflected on the Commission.

Ethel Buckley of SIPTU stated:

The balance of its membership does not reflect the interests of those directly affected by the proposed increase in the pension age. Nor does it reflect the interests of those workers who rely entirely on the state pension for their retirement income.

Peter Kavanagh, head of communications at Active Retirement Ireland, stated:

We are disappointed at the lack of a voice for women or older people in the composition of the Commission which we believe will undoubtedly skew the conversation and may adversely affect the findings. For those most affected by pension inequality to be absent from the conversation is not the transparent and open process we had hoped for.

There are real concerns that, in effect, the commission will issue a rushed report by June of next year and effectively raise the pension age to 67. I wish to inform the Leader on behalf of my party that we will not allow that to go unchallenged. I am calling for a debate on this issue. There are real economic arguments as to why we do not need to move the pension age to 67 and they need to be aired urgently at this time.