Foyle SDLP MLA Pat Ramsey with Claire Keatings, Commissioner for Older People Claire Keatings
Foyle MLA Pat Ramsey has called for the removal of workplace barriers affecting older people.
Speaking earlier today at the launch of the Commissioner for Older People’s report into Valuing an Ageing Workforce in the Assembly, the SDLP representative said “efforts must be made to make working environments more age-friendly places”.
Mr Ramsey, who is a member of the Assembly’s Employment and Learning Committee, said: “Older people can bring so much to the workplace, not to mention experience for which no training can be substituted. However, it is unfortunate that ageist attitudes do prevail and obscure the fact that older people are an asset to society.
“I value older people and their vast experience in so many different areas of life. We should be doing all we can as a society to harness that experience and knowledge, in and out of a work-based scenario.
“All of us will one day be deemed ‘older’ and none of us would like to think, as we progress in age, we are viewed as having nothing else or nothing valuable left to offer.”
He concluded: “Age should never be a barrier to progress and learning and I pledge to make the case and do what I can to support efforts seeking to best support an ageing workforce.”
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