John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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97. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the rationale behind imposing an obligation on local government employees to retire at the age of 65 without the option of working on until they reach the pensionable age of 66; his views that it is an extraordinary situation where these people are being forced to retire, leaving an already stretched local government with an even greater staffing shortage as under the moratorium these positions will not be filled while at the same time adding additional obligations onto the Department of Social Protection as these people will be forced to make applications for jobseeker's allowance; if he will commit to looking into the possibility of permitting those affected to extend their service up to the age of 66 and allow them to make a valid contribution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51152/13]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Under current Local Government Superannuation Scheme rules, most employees appointed prior to 1 April 2004 must retire by the age of 65. There are no plans to extend this retirement age. The minimum retirement age for employees appointed between 1 April 2004 and 31 December 2012 is 65 but they may work beyond that date. Employees appointed since 1 January 2013 are members of the Single Public Service Pension Scheme and for most members their minimum pension age is linked to the State Pension age.