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A SINN FÉIN bill debated this week would abolish the mandatory retirement age.
The bill, the Employment Equality (Abolition of Mandatory Retirement Age) Bill 2016 is being brought forward by deputies John Brady and Denise Mitchell and was debated on Thursday night in the Dáil.
It has received widespread welcome from older people’s groups.
Age Action pointed out that similar legislation proposed by former TD Anne Ferris received cross-party backing in 2015 and urged all parties to support older workers.
Justin Moran, Head of Advocacy and Communications at Age Action, said: “Mandatory retirement is simply age discrimination, forcing someone out of a job because they’ve reached some arbitrary age set by their employer.
“People retiring today are expected, on average, to live 20 years or more. The number of people aged over 65 is going to almost treble in the next thirty years.
“If someone wants to work and can do the job, why should they be forced out because they turn 65?”
A briefing paper published by Age Action late last year explains EU employment law forbids discrimination on the basis of age but a loophole allows Member States to treat workers differently if justified by a ‘legitimate aim’.
Peter Kavanagh of Active Retirement called the loophole “glaring”.
Retirement should be all about choice, and no employer should have the right to tell a worker they are less able to do their job because they have reached a certain birthday. Some people want to retire at 65, or earlier, and that’s really positive. They should be supported to do so. For those who feel able to stay on in work and who want to for financial or social reasons, they should equally be supported to stay in the work force at least until pensionable age, if not beyond.
Brady said the bill “seeks to put an end to this discrimination and give workers choice when it comes to their retirement” and says it will address a major pensions issue.
“This bill will also address two major pension issues. It will end the current practice of those forced to sign on for jobseekers payments at 65 for one year until they are eligible for the State Pension at 66. It will give people who have insufficient contributions for the State Pension an opportunity to continue at work to make up the additional contributions to avoid a reduced pension if they so wish.”
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Why are you warning “people” to cook meat correctly – warn the cooks/chefs in our hospitality industry.
@John Flood: John, there lies the problem. People want to cater at home and get their supplies from Catering Companies but unfortunately home appliances are sometimes not up to the job of cooking for large amounts of people. How many people test the temperature of food at home before serving it ?
@John Flood: Cooks & chefs are “people” too. Most people cook at home. Home isn’t exempt from this.
@John Flood: I suppose some is cooked at home…
@John Flood: never happen on the south side lol.
Some heads will need to roll after this.
I never got the “rare” cooked meat or steak tartare thing myself. Aside from bacterial contamination undercooked meat may carry parasitic eggs which will not be killed if the temperature is insufficient.
@Permo Dermo: Depends on what you’re cooking. Steak (assuming its fresh and from a reputable source) only needs to have the areas that have been exposed to the air cooked as it doesn’t tend to carry parasites or harmful bacteria, unlike chicken or pork. Tartar (or rare hamburgers) are risky, but even a blue steak is very unlikely to cause harm
Obviously no HAACP paperwork done.
@RJ.Fallon: you’ll find it’s done alright, with the same copy and paste job as yesterday. It is at best negligent and at worst criminal to have done this. Beyond scandalous. At least the names of those involved are out so we can
A V O I D.
@: Agreed,I should have said,if HAASP is used by conscientious staff, committed to their work. And hopefully,most are. Plus ,I know that Food Safety inspectors are ruthless in their checking of these records.
@: so if you buy a chicken in Tesco and under cook it and give your family salmonella, do you name and shame Tesco ?
I love chicken curry
@paul kelly: I’m glad for that..
@paul kelly: I like turtles.
Just getting over a bad dose of food poisoning from chicken goujons I had yesterday. Bought frozen, cooked for 45 mins in the oven, puking my ring for 12 hours shortly after in between the sweats and the chills. Horrendous.
@Jimmy Ireland: Get well soon. I once had food poisoning for months, a rare bug that 99% of people wouldn’t be bothered by. That was a nightmare, all I could think of was food but I couldn’t eat any. Ended up in hospital on a drip and a few days later eventually managed to eat half a piece of toast. Nothing had ever tasted so great. It was one of the best meals ever! I’ll never take buttered toast for granted again.
Was the chicken in this case cooked by the caterers and then reheated at the communion parties? Presumably it was and it would then fully have been the catering company at fault.
Any catering company selling chicken resulting in a salmonella outbreak should be shut down permanently
@@UK: I don’t know about that. People do leave food out for hours in warm weather. There’s food poisoning every summer. Maybe they needed a spare fridge for the day?
I had a bout of Salmonella that I picked up after travelling in Vietnam. Got it on my last day there. After all those weeks of eating local street food etc, it was the bloody western style cafe that I went to on the last day there… Thankfully the worst didn’t kick in until i got back to Ireland. It was awful. Wouldn’t wish it on anyone!
Why don’t they ever say the pains in your stomach will be terrible as well. They never say this.
@Rockhopper617: I don’t think other people want to hear all the gory details, that’s why. Also, if it goes on for long enough, your potassium levels plunge and your shins feel as if they’re about to snap when you walk. Seriously, once you’re better, I think the last thing you want is to dwell on how sick you were, you’re just delighted to feel human again, without putting other people off their food.
have your say