In January 2014 the State pension age will increase from age 65
to age 66. The State pension age will thereafter increase to 67
years from 2021 and to 68 years in 2028. It is very likely that the
increase in the State pension age from 65 to 66 in 2014 will result
in requests from employees to work beyond age 65, which for the
vast majority of employers, has traditionally been employees'
normal retirement age. In this update, we look at the current state
of the law in the area of compulsory retirement and the very real
issues, from an employment and pensions perspective, that will
arise when the changes in the State pension age take effect.
Retirement at 65?
Currently, there is no general compulsory retirement age in
Ireland. For those working in the public sector, certain statutory
retirement ages may apply. For all other employees, the
Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2011 (the
"Employment Equality Acts") afford employers a broad
discretion in fixing compulsory
