Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

We cannot give an indication of what the overall figure for retirements over the year will be. It was always indicated, even before any recent announcements in the budget or in regard to moratoriums and so on, that over a three-year period, given the fact there was an extension in regard to age back in 2006, there would always be a spike in these years, particularly at the current time. However, that is not the only reason. There are quite a number of gardaí of an age and service level who could retire, given that under the regulations for Garda retirement a garda with 30 years service may retire on a full pension at any time once he or she reaches the age of 50 years for those who joined prior to 2004 and at age 55 for those who joined since that date. Obviously, there would be a considerable number of gardaí in this category. When one considers that the number of gardaí coming into the system has rapidly increased, it is the case that we have to keep a very close eye on the management level. This is one of the reasons I went to Cabinet yesterday in regard to the filling of vacancies. The Garda Commissioner is extremely happy with the result of the Cabinet deliberations in that respect in that three new chief superintendents and ten superintendents have now been nominated.

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