Compulsory retirement should be scrapped

I WISH to draw attention to the utter heartbreak experienced by thousands of fit and healthy people who wish to continue working after 65.

I strongly believe no one should be denied the opportunity to work if they so wish, and the current situation in which experienced workers are forced to retire at 65 can only be described as age discrimination. With the economy as buoyant as it is, the unemployment rate offers no argument for this discrimination.

My June 2006 policy document entitled ‘A New Approach to Ageing and Ageism’, calls for pension age employees to be subject to the same assessment of competence, ability and good health that is used by employers for younger workers.

With people now living longer than ever before, the mandatory retirement age limit of 65 is outdated and unreasonable. In addition, greatly improved standards of living and healthcare mean people now have the capacity, and very often the will, to work for many years beyond 65.

As a politician, I feel helpless when approached by workers who are distraught at the prospect of their employment being guillotined simply because they are aged 65.

For many women, this will be the second time they have faced discrimination in their employment. Only when Ireland joined the EU in 1973 was the marriage bar lifted, and now the same women must leave their jobs once more.

If every citizen is to have a meaningful role in our society, then we need to end this abrupt retirement age limit which forces people to stop working regardless of age, need or ability.

Senator Mary White

Seanad Éireann

Leinster House

Kildare Street

Dublin 2