Age Action Ireland has called for an end to provisions in employment laws that it says discriminate against older people.
The call follows a Government decision that will allow new entrants to the public service work beyond the age of 65. The advocacy group said it warmly welcomed the decision announced in last week's Budget.
It said the Government's decision should encourage the immediate removal of the upper age limits in the Redundancy Payments Acts, the Unfair Dismissals Acts and the Employment Equality Act 1998.
"Temporary public service tour guide jobs should then be available to over 65s who have been banned from such appointments despite the advertisements highlighting they were for 'all ages'," Age Action said.
"The excuse given was that the normal retirement age in the public service was usually 65 and that this should be reflected in the age of tour guides. This nonsense should cease and chronological age should stop being used as a tool for discrimination against older people."
Age Action said the Government should speed up the implementation of the Framework Employment Directive - which provides a general framework for prohibiting discrimination on a number of grounds - by amending the Employment Equality Act.
"It should not wait until the 2006 deadline as recommended by IBEC."