The case of Carlow County Council v. Paul Curran was an appeal by the Council of a decision of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to the Labour Court.

Mr Curran worked as a retained firefighter having commenced his employment in May 1986 when the age of retirement was 55. He passed this retirement age in 2019, but continued in his employment on a series of successive fixed term contracts subject to occupational health review.

Mr Curran was turning 60 on 24 January 2024 and was advised in December of 2023 that no extension past the 60th birthday could be granted to a retained firefighter. At the time, however, the union was in active talks to extend the retirement age to 62. This higher retirement age would not come into effect until May 2024 after Mr Curran had retired.

 
Pursuant to Section 34(4) of the Employment Equality Act, 1998 (as amended) it shall constitute age discrimination to fix different ages for the retirement of any class or description of employees unless such difference is justified by a legitimate aim and the means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary.

Mr Curran had successfully argued before the WRC that the retirement age of 60 was “neither necessary nor proportionate” and “went beyond what was required”.

It was not disputed that Mr Curran’s contractual retirement age was 55 and that the decision to extend the retirement age to 62 was not retrospective.

However, on appeal by the Council the Labour Court found that the mandatory retirement age was objectively and reasonably justified by legitimate aims accepting submissions by the Council that “the nature of the work and the conditions within which the work is carried out by retained firefighters dictate the need for a mandatory retirement age below the statutory retirement age”.

The appeal succeeded and the decision of the adjudication officer was set aside.