Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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674. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the options for persons in the teaching profession forced into retirement at 65 years of age and thus denied an extra year's salary while still not qualifying for the old age pension until they are 66 years of age; and his plans to address this anomaly. [20483/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, an Interdepartmental Working Group, chaired by my Department, was established early in 2016 to examine the issues arising from prevailing retirement ages for workers in both the public and private sectors, in the context of the current age of entitlement to the State Pension and the scheduled increases to the State Pension age in 2021 and 2028.  The Group’s Report was agreed by Government last August.

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 in this quarter. I understand that the Department of Education and Skills as a major public service employer in the education area has been directly consulted in this review.

Future policy in this area will be considered by Government following the outcome of this review. Any change in the compulsory retirement ages for public servants will require primary legislation.