Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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326. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if State sponsored bodies can extend employment by one year for long-serving employees on reaching 65 years of age, who on retirement at 65 years of age would have to seek jobseeker's benefit for one year prior to being eligible for pension payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7368/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Terms and conditions of employees of commercial state bodies (otherthan the Chief Executive Officer) are generally a matter for the body concerned and I have no direct input in relation to those terms and conditions. However, in relation to public servants generally, including those in non-commercial state bodies, the Deputy may be aware that an Interdepartmental Working Group, chaired by my Department, was established in early 2016. This Group was to examine the issues arising from prevailing retirement ages for workers in both the public and private sectors, in the context of the increase in the State Pension age from 65 to 66 in 2014 and the scheduled further increases to the State Pension age in 2021 and 2028.

The Group, whose Report was agreed by Government last August, considered policy around retirement age in both the public and private sectors, examining implications arising from retirement ages now and in the future. The Group identified a set of frameworkprinciples to underpin policy in the area and made a number ofrecommendations assigned to Government Departments and Employer bodiesfor follow-up in that regard. A copy of the Report is available online at .

On foot of one of the recommendations of the Report, my Department, with Public Service employers, was tasked to review the current statutory and operational considerations giving rise to barriers to extended participation in the public service workforce up to and including the current age of entitlement to the Contributory State Pension. This review is currently underway and is expected to be completed by the Q2 2017.