The government are putting it on their agenda for 2017 to revise the retirement age for workers in both the public and private sector. The aim is to reduce age discrimination in the workplace and reduce government spending for the years ahead.

The proposal, drafted by Minister for Mental Health and Older People Helen McEntee and Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar, is to make mandatory retirement ages illegal.

Although there is not concrete compulsory retirement age in Ireland, the issue lies within the employment contracts in both private and public sectors which require people to retire at a specific age.

The Sunday Independent report that people are to be incentivised into working for longer with the promise of a larger state pension, in an attempt to avoid the pension time bomb.

For the first time, employers will need to provide a legitimate reason aside from age, for compulsory retirement.

These proposals will also give people the chance to retire early on a reduced pension.

Varadkar told the Sunday Independent that the aim is to provide “greater flexibility around retirement”, and that “we are also examining a change in the law that would put the onus on employers who want someone to retire before the State pension age, so that the employer would have to prove that this is necessary for some objective reason”.

Minister McEntee added that “when they reach a certain age set out in an employment contract, most people have no option but to retire, even if it’s not what they want. I believe we must give people the option of working if that is what they want and if they have the ability to do so.”