Madam, – Recently the UK government decided to phase out the compulsory or default retirement age, thus giving official recognition to the well-known fact that individuals age differently, and ending the nonsense of an arbitrary retirement age. This milestone decision was not reported in our media.
Older people should be allowed to contribute to our country by staying in the workforce for as long as they wish, subject to their capability. There are 480,000 people in Ireland aged 65-plus. We would welcome a national debate on this issue. – Yours, etc,