Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is no compulsory retirement age in Irish employment legislation. Generally such legislation defines an employee as "a person of any age who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment."

I would point out that the upper age limit of 66 years for bringing claims under the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2007 was removed by the Equality Act 2004. The effect of this is that a person who is over the age of 66 when dismissed may take a case under the Unfair Dismissals Acts unless he/she has already reached the normal retirement age for that employment, if one exists. Also, the age cap of 66 for statutory redundancy was removed by the Protection of Employment (Exceptional Collective Redundancies and Related Matters) Act 2007 that was enacted last month.

The Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004 removed the compulsory retirement age for new entrants to the public service, with the exception of certain posts in the Permanent Defence Force, the Garda Síochána, the Prison Service and the Fire Service.

The Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2007, administered by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, protect against discrimination on the ground of age and on other grounds, in relation to access to employment. However, the Acts also permit an employer to decide on a retirement age, which may be above or below 65 years of age in a particular employment. The purpose of such provisions is to give

Flexibility to employers and employees, having due regard to the nature of the work being performed. Any proposed change to the normal retirement age should first be negotiated between employee and employer.

I understand that various cases have been taken by employees to the employment rights and equality adjudicating bodies regarding retirement age over the years.