Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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159. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to raise the retirement age for gardaí from 60; if she has had discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in relation to this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59403/21]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware, the retirement of members of An Garda Síochána is governed by law, which sets the mandatory retirement age for all members at 60 years of age. Members of An Garda Síochána who joined prior to 1 April 2004 may retire on full pension at 50 years of age once they have served at least 30 years and those who joined on or after 1 April 2004 may retire on full pension at 55 years of age with 30 years service.

I can inform the Deputy that a review of the compulsory retirement age is currently being carried out by my Department. As part of this review, an examination has been undertaken of compulsory retirement ages in a number of other police services.  Consideration is also being given to the impact of such an increase of retirement age on career progression for other Garda members including the importance of career succession, operational capacity and workforce planning within An Garda Síochána.

Any changes to the maximum mandatory retirement age will need to be considered carefully and will require amendments to both primary and secondary legislation.  It is intended that detailed discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform will commence shortly.