Vol. 462 No. 2
269 Mr. P. Gallagher (Laoighis-Offaly) asked the Minister for Defence when the early retirement scheme for members of the Permanent Defence Force will come into operation; the persons who will be eligible for this scheme; whether medical grade Cs will be given preference; when applications for the scheme will be accepted; the terms of the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4232/96]
The voluntary early retirement scheme for members of the Permanent Defence Force will come into operation during 1996. Applications for the scheme will be accepted later this year. The terms of the scheme, which have yet to be decided by Government, will be commensurate with those offered in other areas of the public service when account is taken of the many unique features of the Defence Forces superannuation arrangements and in particular the entitlement to gratuity and pension at ages as young as 29 in the case of officers and 38 years of age in the case of enlisted personnel. The scheme is likely to be targeted at older members of the Permanent Defence Force. Personnel who are graded as Medical Category "C" will also be given the option of availing of it.
I do not forsee a great deal of difficulty with the scheme once the terms as decided by Government have been published. There will be further consultation with the representative associations in the coming weeks as the details of the terms are discussed again with them.
