Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I have been contacted by a number of public servants over their concerns about the retirement age. They are in good health and are enjoying their job and would love to continue in their job after they reach 65. At the moment, the Department is looking at legislation and reviewing the situation but if these people were to go back into employment in the public service they would have to start on point 1 of the scale again, as if they were new employees. The experience they have built up over the years has to be taken into account and I am concerned that we are losing people with experience from some organisations. When people want to stay on, everything should be done to encourage them and to allow them to stay in employment for a few more years to give something back to the organisations for which they worked.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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As the Senator is aware, on December 2017, at the request of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, the Government agreed that the compulsory retirement age of most public servants recruited before 1 April 2004 should be increased to age 70. This is the only group of public servants who currently have a compulsory retirement age of lower than 70. The decision arose on foot of a review of the current statutory and operational considerations giving rise to barriers to extended participation in the public service workforce, which was carried out by my Department with public service employers last year.

Primary legislation is required for the changes approved by Government to be implemented. The Attorney General’s office has been asked to prioritise the drafting of the necessary legislation so that the new compulsory retirement age will become effective as soon as possible. The drafting process is under way and the Bill is on the list of priority legislation for publication in the current session. Indeed, I understand that the drafting of the legislation is significantly advanced with an expected publication date, subject to Government approval, of next month. It is not possible to determine the length of time it will take for a Bill to be drafted and pass through both Houses of the Oireachtas, given the need for meticulous drafting, ongoing detailed policy considerations, and the scheduling requirements of the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Bill is, however, being treated as a priority and I know that the Minister intends to bring forward the necessary legislation as soon as possible.

The Minister wrote to the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach earlier this year requesting it to undertake pre-legislative scrutiny on the general scheme of the Bill at an early date. In response, the committee indicated that, while it does not intend to undertake pre-legislative scrutiny on this Bill, it will engage fully on the draft legislation in the context of the formal legislative process. This approach is likely to facilitate passage of the Bill through the Oireachtas and the Minister has welcomed the support of the committee in this regard.

The new compulsory retirement age will not come into effect until the necessary legislation is commenced. In order to make some accommodation for public servants who reach the age of 65 in the period between the Government decision of 5 December and the commencement of the necessary legislation, the Government approved some limited interim arrangements which became effective from the date of the Government decision. The interim arrangements, which have to respect the current statutory position of the compulsory retirement age of 65, will, through "retire and re-hire", enable pre-2004 public servants who reach the age of 65 to remain in employment until they reach the age of eligibility for the State pension contributory, which is currently 66, subject to certain conditions. Details of these interim implementation arrangements have been put in place by the relevant sectors.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I am delighted that this legislation is being prioritised. It is good news but, in the meantime, people want to stay on. I understand that the Minister has put interim measures in place and I would like to find out what they are. It is very unfair to expect someone to go back to point 1 on the scale. People who have given their time and commitment to a job need to be looked after. It is because they love their job that they want to stay on. Perhaps I could talk to the Department about this issue.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I referred to temporary provisions put in place to facilitate public servants, pending the passage of the legislation. The passage of the proposed legislation will, I believe, address any misgivings of public servants regarding the current temporary arrangements. However, those temporary arrangements must respect the current compulsory statutory retirement age of 65. Once the legislation is commenced, public servants who choose to remain beyond the age of 65 will not be in the position of having retired and been re-hired as is currently the case.

It is intended that the new legislation will allow for the retention of public servants who reach the age of 65 following the commencement of the legislation on current terms and conditions. Additional service will count towards pension accrual subject to the statutory maximum of 40 years and pension entitlements will then become payable at the date of retirement. Finally, both the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and I look forward to securing early passage of the Bill through the Oireachtas and we ask the indulgence of this and the other House for its speedy passage.