Ireland needs to scrap the mandatory retirement age as part of efforts to encourage people to stay in the workforce for longer. But, in the face of strong opposition, successive Macron initiatives to raise the retirement age have met with failure. A previous government had proposed gradually raising the State pension age here, but vocal opposition saw this policy abandoned. The French experience shows how difficult it is to raise the State pension age, even when signalled many years in advance. Today’s pensioners, who largely own their own homes, manage reasonably well on modest rates of State pension.

Source: The Irish Times February 02, 2026 15:12 UTC