Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Military life places unique physical and psychological demands on individuals. It is necessary that members of the Defence Forces are physically and mentally capable of meeting the challenges of all military operations and to undertake duties on deployments at home and overseas.  To this end, it is vital that the age and health profile of personnel be such as to ensure that operational capability and effectiveness are not compromised in any way.

The age and fitness profile of the Permanent Defence Force was an issue of serious concern during the 1990s and was the subject of severe criticism by a series of external reports, mainly PricewaterhouseCoopers Consultants and the Efficiency Audit Group, EAG. One of the key areas identified for urgent action by this audit group was the development of a manpower policy with an emphasis on lowering the age profile of Permanent Defence Force personnel. A range of policies was introduced to ensure an appropriate age profile and levels of fitness, including fixed term contracts for enlisted personnel of certain ranks. These are kept under review.

My colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, announced last week that he had secured Government approval for an increase in the compulsory retirement age from 65 to 70 for public servants recruited before 1 April 2004. The uniformed pension accrual group, including gardaí, members of the Permanent Defence Force, fire fighters and prison officers, who are currently required to retire early due to the nature of their work, will not be covered by the new arrangements. The retirement ages for these groups will be best dealt with at sectoral level where the detailed policy, operational and manpower issues relevant to those groups can be appropriately considered.

A claim to increase the mandatory retirement age for all officers has been received from the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, RACO, under the conciliation and arbitration scheme for members of the Permanent Defence Force. The Deputy will appreciate that as discussions under the conciliation and arbitration scheme are confidential to the parties involved, it would not be appropriate for me to comment further on the matter at this time.

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