Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 February 2021
176. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Justice if she will address a matter regarding the extension of time for members of An Garda Síochána (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6073/21]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, retirement of members of An Garda Síochána is governed by law, which sets the mandatory retirement age for all members at 60 years of age. Members of An Garda Síochána who joined prior to 1 April 2004 may retire on full pension at 50 years of age once they have served at least 30 years and those who joined on or after 1 April 2004 may retire on full pension at 55 years of age with 30 years service. Gardaí have the option of continuing to serve until they reach 60, subject to the Garda Commissioner being satisfied that they are fully competent and available to undertake their duties.
I can inform the Deputy that a review of the compulsory retirement age is currently being carried out by my Department. Any changes to the age will require the amendment of primary and secondary legislation.
Separate to this consideration of the overall question of the compulsory retirement age, as part of the Garda Commissioner's action plan to deal with the impact of Covid-19 on public order and policing matters, the Commissioner has invited Garda members, due to compulsorily retire on age grounds, to apply to have their retirement age extended for up to one year.
This is in accordance with the Garda Síochána (Retirement)(No. 2) Regulations 1951 [S.I.335/1951] which allow the Commissioner, with the consent of the Minister, to extend the age of retirement of a Garda member where this is in the interests of the efficiency of the Garda Síochána due to special qualifications or experience possessed by that member.
The Commissioner has determined that it is in the interests of the efficiency of An Garda Síochána that members who have significant experience in policing and have the particular skills to support the Commissioner's urgent policing priorities during the pandemic should be given the opportunity to extend their service for 12 months, having reached the age of 60 years.
Applications by Garda members are being considered only in the specific and unprecedented circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic and extensions granted are relevant only to those circumstances. To date, forty-three applications from Garda members at different ranks have been approved for 12-month extensions to their compulsory retirement ages. A further four applications are currently being considered.
In addition to these retirement age extensions, which were related solely to policing requirements during the Covid-19 pandemic, I have approved two other retirement age extensions during 2020. These extensions, of two-year duration, were requested by the Garda Commissioner for two members of Garda senior management, at the rank of Assistant Commissioner. In support of these requests, the Garda Commissioner highlighted the organisational risk that would be posed by the loss of leadership and the lack of continuity in these strategic senior posts.
