TUI urges end to retirement at 65 rule

TEACHERS and lecturers should be allowed to work past the compulsory retirement age of 65 if they so wish, the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) has recommended.

Fri, 17 Apr, 2009 - 01:00

Presenting a draft policy document on ageism to its annual congress in Cork yesterday, the TUI Equality Council said legislation around retirement ages needs to be revised as currently it is based on an outdated arbitrary age, set at a time when life expectancy was not much more than 65.

Backing up its recommendation, an independent survey commissioned by the TUI revealed 56% of teachers and lecturers within the TUI, which represents second and third-level institutions such as community and comprehensive schools, VECs, and institutes of technology, agreed the compulsory retirement age of 65 should be removed.

Deputy general secretary of the TUI Annette Dolan said it was important ageism in the workplace was tackled, as cases were increasingly being taken to the equality tribunal on the grounds of age discrimination in the workplace. According to Ms Dolan, research has shown that there is no evidence to suggest that productivity declines with age. In its draft policy document, the TUI Equality Council further recommended that the Government introduce legislation to:

* Allow workers to choose the age at which they wish to retire.

* Increase the state pension for every year that a person over 66 delays taking it.

* Allow additional PRSI contributions made after age 66 to be added to the pension.

* Allow teachers/lecturers who have made 40 years of superannuation contributions to be exempt from recent pension levy, on making any further contributions to this scheme.

Teachers were also surveyed in relation to work/life balance issues.

Almost two-thirds of teachers (65%) strongly agreed they often have to take school/college work home with them, which then impacts on their personal life.

“CSO estimate, by 2011, the Irish population in the 45 to 69-year-old category will have increased by 24%,” said Ms Dolan.

“People will probably have longer working lives and work-life balance will have an important role to play in motivating employees over this longer period of employment,” she said.

In order to achieve a greater balance, the TUI Equality Council recommended greater flexibility in the taking of parental leave and the lifting of restrictions on career breaks after the age of 60.