Richard O'Donoghue supports pension bill, urges contract protection
Richard O'Donoghue spoke in support of a pension and retirement bill while pressing the government and the minister to protect workers with pre-existing contracts. He urged honouring contracts set at age 65 before the statutory retirement age rose to 66 and sought flexibility to let fit older workers continue employed with medical certification.
O'Donoghue expressed clear support for any bill that allows people to access their pension, whether before or at the statutory retirement age. He said the measure should help people get their pension and welcomed provisions that enable entitlement at different ages.
He argued the government should honour contracts made when the retirement age was 65 for those who entered employment under that term, rather than forcing them onto social welfare after the age was changed to 66. O'Donoghue urged the minister to recognise contractual expectations established before the legislation changed.
Using the example of bus drivers, he highlighted that some workers are barred from driving after a set age while others older than that continue to drive similar vehicles. He proposed allowing fit older workers to remain operational with a yearly health cert from a doctor or consultant to confirm they can safely perform their duties.
O'Donoghue offered a personal anecdote about his father racing him at 70 to illustrate longevity and fitness among older people. He also made a light-hearted remark to Count Carla about changing the subject, emphasising his intent to stick to the topic while urging practical, age-neutral solutions.
He closed by inviting the minister to open negotiations for people outside the bill's current criteria, seeking constructive discussions to find ways to work with individuals regardless of age. His remarks focused on protecting contractual rights and enabling capable older workers to continue contributing.
Main position on the bill
O'Donoghue expressed clear support for any bill that allows people to access their pension, whether before or at the statutory retirement age. He said the measure should help people get their pension and welcomed provisions that enable entitlement at different ages.
Contract protection and retirement age
He argued the government should honour contracts made when the retirement age was 65 for those who entered employment under that term, rather than forcing them onto social welfare after the age was changed to 66. O'Donoghue urged the minister to recognise contractual expectations established before the legislation changed.
Fitness to work and annual health certification
Using the example of bus drivers, he highlighted that some workers are barred from driving after a set age while others older than that continue to drive similar vehicles. He proposed allowing fit older workers to remain operational with a yearly health cert from a doctor or consultant to confirm they can safely perform their duties.
Personal context and tone
O'Donoghue offered a personal anecdote about his father racing him at 70 to illustrate longevity and fitness among older people. He also made a light-hearted remark to Count Carla about changing the subject, emphasising his intent to stick to the topic while urging practical, age-neutral solutions.
Broader call for negotiation
He closed by inviting the minister to open negotiations for people outside the bill's current criteria, seeking constructive discussions to find ways to work with individuals regardless of age. His remarks focused on protecting contractual rights and enabling capable older workers to continue contributing.
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Transcript
I do note that you have been asking people to stick on the topic, which I will, but I also am in front of a minister and I would like to highlight a couple of issues that I would have to do with myself. I do support the bill. Any bill that would allow a person to get their pension, whether it is pre-the age or at the age, I do support it. One part of the bill and the retirement date is now at 66, and anyone that is contractual had entered into employment a number of years ago and had on their contract at 65, I do believe the government should honour a person that had a contract done before the legislations would have been changed from 65 to 66, and not asking them to go on and sign on for social welfare or go on their stammered from deafening. That's not of a person that has worked all their life, pre-the age of the retirement or not. I am of an age of where I am one of 11, I was in our family, and my father was 59 years older than me. And I look at the age of the people that are, when I was a young lad, and you look at the health of different people within their age groups, and I remember one time I asked my father at the age of 11 when he raced me, and he was 70, and he said sure come on soon, and he beat me down the road as if I wasn't even there. Now he was either very fast or I was very slow. But when I am going with this, and deaf men live to be at the age of 98, and I just want to touch on something very quickly, and I want delayed time on it. At the moment you have bus ironed drivers that can drive up to the age of 70. And they can't drive after that, but yet they can drop the kids with bus ironed to a school, and their brother or sister or friend at the age of 71 or 72 or 75 can pull up in the same size bus, and pick up the students and take them to Dublin, up here to the Rochtes, and take them home. I believe that if you are fit enough to work and you want to work, a yearly health cert from your doctor or consultant to allow you to do that job, which we need at the moment, I believe you should be allowed to do it. There's a lot of people before their retirement age, which we are here talking about today, are not fit to go to work or fit to drive. But we have people that are after the age, are fit to do it, and I would ask that that would happen. I do, I do, I am finishing up on this, Count Carla, and if I may say so myself, when you were on this side of the house you were very good at just having a change in the subject within it. And I would just like to remind you on the record, you were very good at doing it yourself. On the record, it's not the point. In your position that you are at the moment, you are pulling us for something that you were well able to do yourself. So Count Carla, on a point of humour, this is not a criticism. Well, if you don't know me and stick to the topic. But on that side of it, I do support any bill that will help people on this. But I do also, having the Minister in front of me, I do like to open up negotiations for people that are outside of this criteria, that we can work forward and we can look for people, regardless of what age you are, that we can actually work with them in the future, if they are over the ages or under the ages. Thank you. So , I have this one who's here. I can do it before. I