Will the Taoiseach confirm that it is the Government's intention to extend the compulsory retirement age for public servants to 70 years? If legislation is required to effect this change, when is it proposed to publish it? Will the Taoiseach further indicate when it is intended to do something for people working in the private sector, many of whom are locked into contracts that force them to retire at 65 years of age?

Last December I introduced a Bill in the House to abolish the mandatory retirement age. That Bill received cross-party support on Second Stage in February this year. We have been waiting since for a money message, although it is questionable as to whether such is needed. I have written numerous times to the Minister for Finance, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, requesting an update on the progression of that process, but I have received no response. The announcement of the raising of the compulsory retirement age in the public sector is a welcome step in the right direction, but it falls short of the total abolition of mandatory retirement which we are seeking. Without that abolition, we will see a continuation of the current discriminatory practice whereby private sector workers are still being forced out of employment at the age of 65 years. When will the money message that is delaying the total prohibition on mandatory retirement be produced to allow us to proceed with ensuring workers across the board will be treated equally?

Yesterday, on the proposal of the Minister for Finance, the Cabinet approved the preparation of legislation necessary to raise the compulsory retirement age from 65 years of age to 70 for public servants who were recruited before 1 April 2004. Public servants recruited after that date are not required to retire at 65 years of age, but many of those recruited before then are subject to that obligation. The legislation will be introduced as soon as possible. It will not, of course, be a requirement for employees to remain in work until they are 70 years of age, but they will now have a choice to stay on, by mutual agreement with the employer. I do not have plans to move the money message in respect of Deputy John Brady's Bill. His proposals are problematic, not least because there is no money allocated for them in the budget and, second, because there is no mandatory retirement age in the private sector. There is significant case law on how employees may challenge their contract. A compulsory retirement age may be included in a contract, but it is not a statutory provision.