Address by Mr. Michael Martin TD Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment at the “Experience has a Future” Conference

SSRR Project

The aim of the Senior Select Retain and Retrain Project is to engage in a participative action research process to explore the recruitment and retention of older people in employment with a view to informing relevant policy and practice. In my view the action research aspect of this project has put it in a unique position to identify the key obstacles to older people continuing to participate in the workforce into later life.

EQUAL

I am very glad to say that this Project is one of 43 development partnerships funded under the EQUAL Community Initiative Programme through my Department.

These 43 Development Partnerships have received European Social Fund co-financing of approximately €34 million over the Programme period 2000-2007. When match funding is included, a total of €47 million will have been spent on projects to identify and address fundamental forms of discrimination and inequality in the labour market through the development of innovative policies and practices.

The experimental approach of EQUAL provides the opportunity to test new ways of integrating marginalised groups into the workforce, of preparing them for the world of work, and of upskilling those already in employment.

The EQUAL programme has been concerned with finding innovative solutions to labour market problems, and looks, not necessarily only at ‘what’ is being done, but also ‘how’ things are done.

Of course the EQUAL Programme is now drawing to a close and the challenge for those involved in taking things forward is to build on the lessons learnt and to mainstream the best practices developed by EQUAL Projects.

The challenge of dealing with our ageing society is exactly the type of issue that we can address using lessons learned in EQUAL projects such as this one of Senior Select Retain and Retrain.

Ageing in Europe

We all know that the demographics of Europe are changing due to the increase in the proportion of older people. This is the result of significant economic, social and medical progress, giving Europeans the opportunity to live long lives in comfort and security that is without precedent in our history.

While very welcome, this change in demographics is also one of the main challenges that the European Union will have to face in the years to come. This challenge calls for strategic priority to be given to increasing the rate of participation of both men and women in the labour market. This will require far-reaching reforms to remove obstacles and create incentives for older people to remain in the labour force.

Ageing in Ireland

It is true that the ‘ageing issue’ is not as acute in Ireland as other European countries. The proportion of the population at working age here is relatively high in European terms. The current ratio in Ireland is 6 people of working age to every 1 person aged 65.

However, the fact that this ratio will fall to 4:1 by 2025 means that we cannot afford to be complacent. To look at it another way, over the next 20 years the proportion of people in Ireland aged 65 or older is due to increase by 60% from 436,000 to 698,000.

We therefore need to take action now so that we can gradually and sustainably adapt to the new situation facing us.

In addition to facilitating people to work past 65, part of the challenge is also to encourage and enable people to remain in work up to at least 65.

The current employment rate for those between 55 and 64 years is 54%. This compares favourably to the EU27 rate of 44% and is above the Lisbon target of 50% by 2010.

However, if we look into this 54% figure in more detail, we see that the employment rate falls from 61% for the 55 to 59 age group to 45% for those aged 60 to 64. This shows us that we have a challenge to address in the under 65 age group also.

Recent Initiatives

We have already taken a number of practical initiatives to encourage older workers to remain in or return to the workforce. These include:

FAS engagement with the unemployed and inactive being extended to those aged 55-64, to coincide with the abolition of the Pre-Retirement Allowance

the FAS Community Employment participation limit of three years was extended to six years, to allow for those over 55 to engage in useful work and training within their community for a longer period

The FAS “Expanding the Workforce” provides support for women returnees into the labour market, many of whom fall within the older age categories.

In addition, new initiatives are being developed, as set out in Towards 2016, that will impact on older workers, in particular. These include:

the development of a targeted guidance, learning and training programme for employees in the manufacturing sector; this programme will include coaching and mentoring for workers in vulnerable employments;

the introduction of measures for the promotion of take up of apprenticeships by older workers.

Removal of age discrimination

It is worth noting that legislation is in place to ensure that employment law does not include any provision which discriminates on grounds of age. In particular, the Employment Equality Acts 1998 and 2004 protect against discrimination on the ground of age in relation to access to employment.

There are no provisions in Employment or Equality law that impose a compulsory retirement age. However, the law does permit an employer to decide on a retirement age in relation to a particular employment. This is designed to give flexibility to both the employer and the employee having due regard to the nature of the work.

Green Paper on Pensions

There is no doubt that we do face significant challenges in facilitating the continuation of older people in work.

The influences on an individual’s decision to stay on at work or to retire are multi-dimensional and include issues such as health, family circumstances and future expectations. In particular, there is strong evidence that pension incentives have a major influence on retirement expectations and decisions.

Changes in relation to pensions have already been introduced in the public service. The voluntary retirement age for new entrants has been increased from 60 to 65 and it is not compulsory for new entrants to retire at a particular age if they are fit and willing to remain in employment.

The forthcoming Green Paper on Pensions which will be published very shortly will play a key part in assisting us to map the way forward for policy in this area.

The Green Paper was drawn up in consultation with the social partners and builds on two reports produced by the Pensions Board in 2006 – the National Pensions Review and the Special Savings for Retirement Report.

The Green Paper will set out the key issues and challenges in this area and will assist the formulation of policy by informing a public debate on the issues.

Training

Investment in training and the development of programmes to facilitate employees to adapt their skills through further training and re-skilling will also be critical to extending their working lives. Therefore, human resource investment must focus on those at work in the context of life long learning.

What needs to be done is clearly set out in the National Skills Strategy. Increasing the skills profile of the labour force requires a series of linked initiatives involving individuals, employers and the relevant Government Departments. We have already made a start through the allocation of increased resources to FÁS and Skillnets for development of appropriate initiatives for those in employment, including older workers.

Conclusion

In conclusion then, I would say that we now have a window of opportunity to develop a range of measures to cope successfully with our ageing society. This will require action and commitment by all of the key stakeholders, including Government, employers and workers themselves. In my view, we need to take action on this now while we still can. Conferences like today’s help build an awareness of the issues and the measures we need to take to address them.

I would therefore like to again to thank the Senior Select Retain and Retrain Project for inviting me here today to launch their conference, to congratulate the project on its work and to wish you well in your work today. I am sure that that your deliberations and discussions today will help inform the development of policy on this issue which will be important for all of us in Ireland into the future.

Thank you very much. ENDS/ETE1800