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To enhance the service and benefit we can provide for you we highlight for your information some useful websites that provide useful information and services in a wide range of areas impacting on peoples lives before and after retirement.
Government Departments:
Department of Social Protection
www.welfare.ie This is the main agency of the State providing social security and other income supports to over a million people in Ireland. Their website includes details of all schemes and services, including rules and guidelines for administering services.
Department of Health and Children
www.doh.ie The Department of Health and Children in Ireland have responsibility for the provision of a huge range of services in Ireland and they also administer the Medical Card Scheme.
Revenue Commissioners
www.revenue.ie Revenue deal with all taxes including personal income tax. The site contains the text of their individual leaflets as well as a wealth of additional information.
Irish Government Website
www.irlgov.ie This website provides a directory to all government departments and agencies.
BASIS(Business Access to State Information & Services)
www.basis.ie Provides a single point of access on all government services for businesses.
State Agencies:
Equality Authority
www.equality.ie State agency working towards the elimination of discrimination.
FAS
www.fas.ie FAS is the State Training and Employment Authority and a good place for anybody who has retired and would like to continue in employment to contact.
Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs
www.odca.ie This independent statutory office is responsible for providing advice and information to consumers and for the enforcement of a wide range of consumer protection laws.
The Equality Tribunal
www.equalitytribunal.ie Investigates and mediates complaints of discrimination under equality legislation.
Office of the Information Commissioner
www.irlgov.ie/oic/ The Information Commissioner's website includes legislation on Freedom of Information and the full text of the rulings of the Commissioner on cases which have been decided.
Office of the Ombudsman
www.irlgov.ie/ombudsman/ The Ombudsman's main function is to investigate complaints from members of the public who feel that they have been unfairly treated by certain public services.
Personal Injuries Assessment Board
www.piab.ie The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) is a statutory body providing independent assessment of personal injury compensation.
Voluntary Organisations:
Directory of National Voluntary Organisations (Citizens Information Board)
The Citizens Information Board Resource Database for Voluntary and Community Sectors Citizens Information Board's Directory of National Voluntary Organisations and other agencies gives details of over 550 organisations in Ireland.
Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC)
www.flac.ie This non-governmental organization campaigns for full and equal access to justice for all and promotes and operates a range of services to meet the legal needs of those living in poverty.
Money Advice and Budgeting Services (MABS)
www.mabs.ie MABS provides free and confidential advice, assistance and support to people experiencing financial difficulty.
The Local Development Training Institute of Ireland (LDTI)
www.ldti.ie Provides relevant workshop training for individuals and groups involved in local development.
Aontas
www.aontas.com The National Association of Adult Education - independent national organization representing all aspects of adult education.
Volunteering Ireland
www.volunteeringireland.com Promotes high quality voluntary activity, by encouraging organizations which involve volunteers to adopt good policy and practice, and by acting as a link between such organizations and individuals who wish to undertake meaningful voluntary work.
Organisations for Older People:
Age Action Ireland
www.ageaction.ie Campaigns for the rights of older people in Ireland on a wide range of pertinent issues.
Age and Opportunity
www.ageanop.ie Another organization that campaigns and supports the rights of older people in Ireland and they have a vast array of information and publications that provide a wealth of useful information on a host of different subjects.
Federation of Active Retirement Associations
www.fara.ie Provide a range of supports for those seeking to set up active retirement groups. Also have nearly twenty thousand people throughout Ireland involved in their various associations.
Other useful contacts:
The Pensions Board
www.pensionsboard.ie Provides a range of supports for people with queries on pension and they have a wide range of easy to read publications on various aspects of pensions.
The Pensions Ombudsman
www.pensionsombudsman.ie The Ombudsman will assess disputes people might have in relation to pensions and support those with disputes that have merit.
Financial Regulator
www.itsyourmoney.ie Provides a one stop shop to explain how a wide range of financial products work and have some extremely good publications to assist in taking the mystery out of the financial services industry.
TIPS FOR BEST PRACTICE IN ASSISTING EMPLOYEES PLAN FOR TRANSITION FROM WORK TO RETIREMENT
Pre-Retirement Preparation:
Ideally people should give some thoughts to the challenges and changes brought about by retirement about 3 to 5 years prior to retirement date. All the evidence of our work over the past twenty years suggest people regret leaving the planning stage until just prior to retirement as they lose a valuable opportunity to make some really positive changes. The challenge for progressive employers is to persuade employees that retirement which is 5 years away is not an abstract concept but a very real and live prospect.
Pre-Retirement Initiatives: (3-5 years prior to retirement)
Some companies offer their employees and a spouse/partner (if applicable) to attend a retirement planning seminar five years prior to retirement date. This allows the individual/couple to have the main issues identified for them and gives some useful pointers on how to plan ahead to make the change the most positive experience possible. They are then given an opportunity to attend in the year of retirement a second retirement seminar which acts as a refresher to ensure they are on the right tract.
We strongly recommend that where applicable the spouse/partner attend as the changes are as great for them as for the person retiring from the organisation. We also find that where the spouse/partner is female they often see the issues from two perspectives both their own and their partners.
The retirement planning seminar will cover areas such as:
Dealing with Personal Change (relationships, managing time positively suggesting options for hobbies/interests/etc. general tips on looking after ones health, and putting in place a financial structure)
Taxation System: outlining how the system works and ensuring that people maximise their personal situation and don't overpay tax.
Financial Planning: looking at how best to maximise AVC options, how to make your money work for you by asking the right questions of the banks and other financial institutions, explaining how the most common products work and their pros and cons.
Social Welfare System: examining what people have paid over the years, how to ensure they don't lose out on any benefits and how to claim your entitlements.
Some internal initiatives:
In the Public Sector it is not uncommon for people approaching retirement to engage in more flexible working arrangements such as, job-sharing, short career breaks, term-time work where they take holidays to assist with grandchildren, reduced working hours/week. These can be excellent ways of easing a person into retirement by getting them used to having more time off and being around home at different times, but it is often not very practical in the private sector where the competitive environment presents obstacles and logistical problems and also of course cost issues.
Other possibilities:
Where an organisation has a good social ethic with clubs such as golf societies etc, it would be useful to encourage potential retirees to keep involved, and perhaps offer incentives such as reduced/subsidises fees for retirees etc. Where there are sufficient numbers of retired employees an association for retired members might be established and use of company facilities such as canteen for meetings may be allowed. The Federation of Active Retirement Associations (FARA) would be delighted to assist with setting up such associations and their number is 01-6792142. www.fara.ie
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