Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 162: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the steps he will take to fulfil the commitment in the Agreed Programme for Government to introduce phased retirement which allows workers a greater say in their retirement age; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20805/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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It is important that those who wish to continue in employment after normal retirement age should, as far as is possible, be facilitated and supported. Longer working can play an important role in ensuring that our pensions system is sustainable in the future and can be beneficial to the individual. The Green Paper on pensions will include an examination of the issues surrounding retirement age and the barriers faced by older workers who wish to remain in employment.

In the context of the Green Paper on pensions and the Agreed Programme for Government, I will be seeking to introduce flexibilities into the social welfare pensions and social insurance systems to encourage and facilitate longer working.

However, changes to social welfare pensions represent only one aspect of the responses which will be needed in this area.

In order for changes in the pensions area to have an impact we require a change in attitudes in relation to longer working from both employers and employees. At the workplace level employers must seek to retain older employees and create the working conditions which will make longer working both attractive and feasible for older workers.

These issues, together with the question of allowing employees choices in relation to the age at which they retire, are matters for my colleague the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.