Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We skipped head 34 and I wanted to come in on that. It deals with the re-engagement of personnel. There is mention of increasing the retirement ages and from this committee's point of view, it is important to hammer that message home. It does not make a whole lot of sense, if An Garda Síochána is allowing people to join at the age of 50, for the Defence Forces to make people retire at that age. I know they are two very different organisations but I would urge the Department to make those retirement ages as reasonable and as high as possible. If we could increase the maximum recruitment age and the maximum retirement age it would have a very beneficial impact, particularly from a retention point of view.