THE GOVERNMENT HAS increased the retirement age across the Gardaí, Defence Forces and Prison officers in a measure to ease the staffing crisis. 

At a press conference this lunchtime it was announced that the increased mandatory retirement age in the uniformed services will be facilitated by amendments to the relevant pension legislation to be brought forward by Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe.

The recruitment age cut off for military personnel will also increase from 26 to 39 years old.

As The Journal has previously reported, the military is in the grip of a staffing retention crisis. A “ludicrous” situation where experienced officers and enlisted personnel were being forced to retire early has been identified as a major issue.

The problem was created by a measure to increase the fitness of serving military members in the 1990s. The rule meant that military personnel who have joined on post-1994 contracts must resign when they reach the age of 50.

That combined with a problem around State pensions was also causing gardaí to end their service early. 

Paschal Donohoe, The Minister for Public Expenditure, NPD Delivery and Reform, said the measures would assist in recruiting and retaining valuable expertise in the uniformed services. 

Proposed increases to the mandatory retirement ages of uniformed public servants will be facilitated under the Department’s fast accrual pension policy, which will provide the option to members to remain in service if they choose to do so. 

Donohoe said the Department conducted a comprehensive analysis to examine the issue of mandatory retirement age increases and the fast accrual pension terms which apply to uniformed public servants.

The fast accrual pension system refers to public servants forced to retire earlier than other employees for operational reasons. 

Under the changes being made to the fast accrual policy framework, fast accruals will be facilitated until age 60; if an individual remains in employment beyond age 60, their pension accrual reverts from a fast accrual to a standard accrual basis. 

The policy will allow for increased mandatory retirement ages to be adopted in the uniformed services and aims to address operational need in an equitable and sustainable manner. 

Welcomed

Helen McEntee, the Minister for Justice, and Tánaiste Micheál Martin, the Minister for Defence and Foreign Affairs also welcomed the move. 

Lieutenant General Seán Clancy, the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, said he was “delighted” with the news of the measure.   

“The women and men of Óglaigh na hÉireann are our organisation’s greatest asset and central to everything we do. This is why the increase of mandatory retirement ages for all ranks and the security of tenure it provides, has been an absolute priority for me as Chief of Staff and for the wider Defence Forces Board.”

This is the first increase in mandatory retirement ages for Defence Forces personnel since 1963 and better reflects the increase in healthy life expectancy we are all experiencing.

The increase is also broadly in line with increases that have been implemented in other western military organisations.

Clancy said that the  measure will allow experienced and skilled personnel to remain in their positions for longer, facilitating higher average career earnings and providing security of tenure for all military members.

Mark Keane, President of PDFORRA, has welcomed the measure but said that the issue was one that his organisation were seeking to solve for the last 30 years. 

“We welcome this very positive development a move PDFORRA has long campaigned for – since 1994. 

“It will go someway to solving the crisis in retention and recruitment of key personnel into the military.  

“However one must remember of all those people who were forced out on early retirement from a job they loved because of a failure by previous governments and ministers to crystalise their contracts and offer them security of tenure,” he said. 

In a statement the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO) also welcomed the move but cautioned against the increase in recruitment age.

“RACO has had a claim to increase the Mandatory Retirement Age since 2018, and this will go some way, though not all the way, towards bridging the well publicised gap between forced early retirement and access to state pension.

“Our association has concerns however regarding the increase of cadet induction ages from 26 to 39 without any consultation whatsoever.

“This will have implications for the viability of a career in the Defence Forces, when one considers the impact of the career average earnings model of superannuation, let alone the strict fitness and medical requirements imposed on new entrants to the organisation.

“We have written to the Department of Defence seeking the evidence based analysis, including implications underpinning this hugely significant increase from 26 to 39, as this has not been provided to our association, which it should have been according to our agreed rules of procedure,” the RACO statement read. 

Additional reporting Christina Finn.