New civil and public servants recruited from April will not be able to retire until they pass 65, under legislation published yesterday by the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy.
Newly recruited teachers, local government employees and nurses will be affected by the change, but new gardaí, soldiers, prison officers and firemen will be able to leave at 55.
The changes will impact particularly on people elected for the first time as TDs or senators after April, or those who are appointed to ministerial rank for the first time after then.
Such TDs will not get a pension until 65, while affected ministers will have to wait until they are the same age (rather than claiming a pension at 55 if they had more than three years service in high office).
The present compulsory retirement age of 65 will also be removed, "enabling new entrant staff to remain in work longer, subject to suitability and health", said the Minister.
Emphasising that Ireland must cope with higher future pension bills, he said: "We recognise that we have a pensions problem. The State's pensions bill for its own former employees and old age pensioners currently costs 5 per cent of Gross National Product, but this will escalate to 12.5 per cent of GNP in 2056.
"The only difference between the demographic trends in Ireland and the rest of the EU is that the problem hits us a bit later. The fact is that the current ratio of five working people to every pensioner is projected to fall to below two workers to every pensioner by mid-century," he warned.