Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

It was suggested by the Commission on Taxation - it may have been in the McCarthy report - that in the case of a public sector lump sum of over €200,000, the balance of the gratuity over that amount should be taxed. I suspect that the vast majority of gardaí would not be affected by such a move. It is probable that those at the very top of the Garda are the only people in the force who receive gratuities of over €200,000. If the recommendation in question were to be implemented by the Minister for Finance in the forthcoming budget, I can hazard a guess that it would not affect anyone.

I am not answerable for the life choices made by individual gardaí when they are contemplating whether to retire. If a garda has completed 30 years of service and has reached the age of 50, he or she can retire. In such circumstances, he or she will receive a pension of half of their existing salary for the rest of his or her life, along with a tax-free gratuity of one and a half times his or her salary. People have to make their own choices.

On the general issue, I accept that the current level of retirement is unprecedented. Equally, there has been an unprecedented level of recruitment to the Garda Síochána. The net figures for this year will show that Garda numbers are going up. The McCarthy report did not indicate that there should be a reduction in Garda numbers.

I remind Deputy Rabbitte that his party colleague, Deputy Sherlock, recently said we cannot bury our heads in the sand. He suggested that the Government should actively deal with the public sector wage bill. He specifically referred to the need to examine allowances and practices within the HSE and the Garda. The Labour Party is having it every way, to a certain extent. It is complaining that there are not enough gardaí while Deputy Sherlock is making comments like those to which I have referred. Equally, Fine Gael is calling for extra this and extra that at a time when Deputy Bruton is saying we should be curtailing expenditure.

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