Mattie McGrath on banning contractual retirement below pension age

I hope that there was not too many bus drivers to bring in the awful supporters and the temporary supporters to Corky Creeve last Sunday, because we all came home disappointed, and they were used to Cork, and indeed Port-Norra got freshened. The Employment Contractual Recruitment to Ages, Bill 2025, once enacted, will deliver a new employment right. It will allow, but in no way compel an employee to stay in employment until the state pension age of 1966, and I want to also congratulate and wish on Tara Nua, until I start Nua Deputy Smith, the very best and offer my cooperation in her position, and hopefully her door will be open to us as well, and I know it well. The Bill delivers a statutory provision, which sets out that an employer may not enforce contractual retirement age, which is below the state pension age. If the employee does not consent to retire, the Bill implements a key commitment included in the Government's response to the Pensions Commission recommendations and implementations plan, and I think it's very timely and appropriate as one of the first pieces of the legislation this new Government are enacting, because the anomaly there for decades where people have worked 40 years maybe service, and many of them, you know, state employees as well as everything else, and been forced then to attend at the local labour exchange got shocked them, and it was highly, I think, unjust and unfair and indignant to them. People that, you know, I don't respect anybody who goes to the labour exchange, but people who always wanted to work, did work, and were forced to sign on, then, for the 12 months, or 15 months, or wherever it was. And I know this Bill can't include everyone, I know, I don't want people to stick to the Bill, and I am, but I'm also asking for the situation regarding the, a lot of the assistants and teachers assistants, and you'll be aware of this Minister, you know, in ETB and elsewhere, who have been up here many times to meet with us, and up here, you'll be a big kitten. To get the recognition, I know it's gone to the NRC now, but those people deserve to have the same standards. We can't have yellow pack workers in a situation where you have the Montori and the other people, and then you have the others, like ourselves were called the others at the moment, and then what we call next. I don't like that terminology, I don't like that being done to anybody. They should be entitled to the same pay and conditions, because the pay is one thing, but the conditions, the holiday pay, sick pay, and annual leave, everything else as well. Many people have found themselves in an unfortunate position of having to retire from their employment at 65, when they do not want to, and have found themselves, as I said, in a position that they're going to obtain secret benefit until the age of 66, and that's not, you know, fair to them. It's important that this is not made, that it's not made in any way compulsory, and that no person will be compelled to walk beyond 65, but it's important that they will have a choice to do so if they so wish, and would not find themselves seeking employment or a social welfare payment at 65. Indeed, many want to walk beyond 66, and the bill will not go far enough in that regard. So we must also be mindful, and all the speakers have spoken about it, and I suppose I should have declared myself that my own company, you know, we have up to 25 employees, and you know, many, many excellent workers, some of them have a huge longevity, and it is hard now at the moment out to get staff in any walk of life, to get people, but we have a wonderful workforce, and I want to praise them and thank them, because without them, the company wouldn't function. So I'm not speaking personally, I'm just to claim that I have an interest in the employment situation myself, but the situation of the employer, and indeed the small employer, and Dini Birger, the small businesses, they must be nurtured, because they are coming under huge pressures, and huge, you know, bureaucratic pressures, and I no doubt this piece of legislation will add to that, but it's necessary. I mean, if you employ, and you know this count, call yourself, you're in a business background, if you have, you know, five or six employees now, and I might say 25 or six, you would need a secretarial position to manage all the paperwork for at least every five of them, because it's just enormous, and it's growing and expanding, from health and safety, and HACCP, you name it or whatever, many things are very, very necessary, but we're burdened down in small employers, and big employers, but small employers especially, who are maybe family-run business, maybe they're far, I'll say Bancala, and maybe sometimes just a man or woman and their own small business owners, they are completely overburdened with bureaucracy, plus all the costs that are in business as well. Many of our older citizens provide very important services to our community, and are happy to do so, but they're being penalised by being forced to retire. We see a very common problem, and this is mentioned, and you'll know me, I hope I can call the bus in, we don't allow 70-year-olds to operate a school bus, despite them being fit and able to do so. And this has been raised here for the last four years, and I've raised it with different, three different teachers, Minister for Transport and everybody else, I don't know why it's still there, there's a cute shortage of part-time drivers for people to do it, especially in these schools, and also school runs, and the ironic part about it is, I won't repeat it to be mentioned, they can drive people to mattresses and repair cells, and a stroke of pain, if they have medically certified, and they're willing to be medically certified even three times a year, if necessary. Road safely is paramount, especially with children, but this is an anomaly that must be fixed, because many, many small bus companies are unable to fulfil the routes they get. They tend to for them, they get them, and then they're shorter drivers, and that's not to any fault of their own, but it must be changed. I accept that not everyone wants to work beyond 65 or 66, but for many who have worked all their lives, they want to remain in active employment, and we must respect the right to do so. If you allow me to count on the CE schemes, vital parts of our communities. I'm caught heel like I have my own scheme, and BNNB in Newcastle, and Bellarm and Calvary County, Waterford and Tipperary, and we're shocked now at the moment, every scheme I have shocked to five or six places, can't get employees, and we're the best of people, providing, I have Aholo Falter at the moment, a wonderful Alina of Aholo tourist office, and a woman there being forced to retire, and she wants to continue working, she's playing a vital role in the community, it's good for her, it's good for the community, and it's good for everything else, and we're pleading with the powers that be. Thankfully since Covid, I must thank you know the people in social welfare, who have given rollovers and extensions to our members, but long term it's not feasible, the schemes won't stay going, the community work won't be done, very important works, not all cutting grass, there's lots of work in schools, in GA fields, in all kinds of services for the elderly, daycares, all those centres, and they need those people to be able to continue, if they want to continue, not if they want to retire, fine, but we must look at that anomaly, because the workforce is limited, and where you have people who enjoy their work, love their work, are well involved and able to do their work, leave them where they're happiest and being occupied, and also providing excellent service. So I commend this piece of legislation, Minister, and wishes passion to dwell to the house for Magus.