Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has said having a particular pension age where people have to retire is out of date.
It comes as Taoiseach Micheal Martin told his Fianna Fail party colleagues that he doesn’t think the pension age should go beyond 66 and greater flexibility is needed so people could be allowed to continue to work if they want to do so.
The Pension Commission report published last October said that the State pension age should rise by three months each year from 2028 until it hits 67 in 2031.
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The report also recommended that it should then gradually increase to 68 by 2039.
When asked about the Taoiseach’s comments, Mr Varadkar agreed with Mr Martin’s flexibility remarks and said Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys is currently working on “different proposals.”
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the Fine Gael leader said: “I would very much agree with what she has said that we should try and get away from the idea of having a particular absolute pension age where you have to retire at a particular age.
“I think that's kind of out of date.
“What the Pension Commission has recommended is that we give people more flexibility about when they retire.
“You might choose to retire but earlier and accept a lower pension as a result of that.
“Many people do that now at the moment but some people aren't allowed to.
“You might decide that you're going to work a little bit later or maybe phase out of employment, work part time for a few years.
“On that basis, you make more contributions and you get a pension that's a little bit higher.
“I think that's the kind of modern approach I'd like to see us adopt, rather than this strict idea of pension age where you kind of have to retire or you have to take your pension even if you don't want to.”
Minister Humphreys was due to bring the pension age proposal to Cabinet in April but admitted on Tuesday that it will be a number of months before its ready for Ministers to examine.
The Coalition parties could not reach an agreement on the matter during discussion on the Programme for Government and decided to refer it to an independent commission for consideration.
Last week, the Taoiseach dismissed suggestions that he had "undercut" Minister Humphreys who has said the current pension system is "not sustainable” and that “difficult decisions” needed to be made.
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