Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 21 Jun 2001

Vol. 538 No. 5

Written Answers. - Compulsory Retirement.

Trevor Sargent

Question:

33 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Defence if he will take into account the impossible situation which a person (details supplied) in County Cork has been put in view of the fact that as a lieutenant he was found not guilty of the charge made against him and had no previous indication of unsuitability on his record and yet was retired without a reference in June 1969; and if, in view of the period which as elapsed, he will consider a new review of this case and the need for a reassessment of the assumptions which were made at the time and which led to this outcome. [17629/01]

Minister for Defence (Mr. M. Smith)

The position is that, on the advice of the Government, the individual concerned was retired, by the President, with effect from a date in June 1969. The retirement was effected pursuant to section 47(2) of the Defence Act, 1954 and paragraph 18(1)(f) of Defence Force Regulations A.15, which provide that an officer may be retired “in the interest of the service”.

The individual initiated proceedings in the High Court in November 1998 on the circumstances of his retirement some 29 years earlier. The High Court found in favour of the State in June 1999. The individual appealed the case to the Supreme Court in September 1999. The Supreme Court found in favour of the State in January 2001.

A decision to retire an officer "in the interest of the service" is taken only for the most compelling reasons. Given that the Government decision and advice to the President concerned military security, I am not in a position to comment in further detail.