Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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418. To ask the Minister for Health if extensions are being given to experienced paramedics who wish to work after 66 years of age. [25384/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The position with regard to the retirement age of the employees concerned is determined by their contract of employment.

With regard to mandatory retirement age in general, this is a public service wide issue. The terms and conditions of employees in the public service is generally a matter for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. In this context an Interdepartmental Working Group on Fuller Working Lives, chaired by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, was established in early 2016 to examine issues from prevailing retirement ages for workers in both the public and private sectors.

The Report of this Group was agreed by Government in August 2016. The report identified a set of framework principles to underpin policy in the area and made a number of recommendations assigned to Government Departments and employer bodies for follow-up. On foot of the recommendations in this report the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has been tasked with reviewing the current statutory and operational considerations giving rise to barriers to extended participation in the public service workforce up to and including the current and planned age of entitlement to the Contributory State Pensions. This work is currently underway and expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2017. Any future proposals will be considered in the context of the outcome of the work of this group.