Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 April 2021
50. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his attention has been drawn to persons who are over 60 years of age working in the Ordnance Survey repeatedly being asked their retirement date; and his views on whether this is appropriate behaviour. [21074/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am informed by Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) that as part of its workforce planning, a succession planning initiative commenced in 2019 due to the senior age profile of the organisation, that is, 47 per cent of OSi's staff had reached minimum retirement age and had 40 years’ service. To manage this challenge, staff in this cadre have been contacted to ascertain what retirement plans they may have, if any, in order to assist OSi with managing the increased number of expected retirements and to research and respond to the potential skills/knowledge loss, so as to aid succession management and also for budgetary reasons in terms of lump sum pension payments. Engagement with this process is voluntary, and OSi has had a good response with this initiative, which has been agreed with the represented trade unions. The initiative has continued annually in 2020 and 2021.
In view of the foregoing, I consider the initiative to be both reasonable and proportionate.
