Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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70. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the progress in establishing an interdepartmental group to examine the issue of those who are forced to retire at 65 years of age, but who are not eligible for a State pension until they reach 66 years of age, as he indicated in correspondence dated 24 November 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1252/16]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The issue of retirement age will become a more significant issue as the age of eligibility for the State Pension increases in the coming years, to 67 in 2021 and to 68 in 2028. We need a policy framework to support longer working lives. We face challenging demographic related expenditure challenges in the coming years: the numbers aged 65 and over are set to increase from 570,000 in 2013 to 855,000 by 2026 and the annual cost of the State Pension is increasing by over €200m every year.

Since my correspondence with the Deputy in November my officials have consulted with each of the relevant Departments with a view to establishing an Interdepartmental Group to examine the implications arising from retirement ages for public and private sector workers. A Memorandum seeking approval to establish the Group has been submitted to Government. It is proposed that this Group will be chaired by a senior official from my Department and will include representatives from the Departments of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Justice, Education, Health and Social Protection. The Group will engage with key stakeholders with a view to reporting back to Government later this year with recommendations on a policy framework to support longer working lives. My intention is that the Group will convene in the coming weeks.