Decision To Increase Retirement Age Of Gardaí, Defence Forces & Prison Staff Approved.

• Retirement age of An Garda Síochána to increase from 60 to 62 years.
• Extension will further support An Garda Síochána with the resources they need.
• Additional measures to support recruitment into uniformed services to be considered.
• Total gross allocation for Garda force in 2024 is €2.31 billion, an increase of over €172 million on 2023, the highest ever Garda Budget.
• The next intake to the Garda College in Templemore, Co. Tipperary is scheduled for April 8th 2024.
• Another 174 Garda Members are due to attest on March 22nd 2024.
• Since 2020 approval has been granted for over 150 retirement extensions for Garda members, at the request of the Garda Commissioner; to work beyond the age of 60.

The Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee T.D, along with An Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Mr Micheál Martin TD and the Minister for Public Expenditure Mr Paschal Donohoe T.D. have received Government approval to increase the mandatory retirement age in An Garda Síochána, the Defence Forces and the Irish Prison Service.

The increased mandatory retirement age in the uniformed services will be facilitated by amendments to the relevant pension legislation, to be brought forward by Minister Donohoe.

Speaking today, Minister McEntee said: “This increase in the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 62 is just one measure I am taking to support An Garda Síochána, as this Government demonstrates its determination to build stronger, safer communities.
We know a strong An Garda Síochána is central to that and in order to keep it strong, it is important that we retain the knowledge and expertise of experienced people where possible. In addition, increasing the mandatory retirement age reflects the reality across all sectors that people can and want to work in their chosen careers for longer.
We are immensely grateful to our Gardaí and Prison Officers for their outstanding dedication and commitment to serving the public and for the vital role that they play in keeping people safe.
I will continue to engage with Minister Donohue and the Tánaiste over the coming weeks to support this legislation and we will continue to explore any additional measures to support recruitment into An Garda Síochána and all our uniformed services”.

Both Minister McEntee and the Garda Commissioner have agreed that An Garda Síochána should grow to 15,000 and beyond. To reach that target, the government will continue to consider all additional measures to progress and enhance recruitment over the coming months.

Yesterday’s decision follows from other recent changes introduced to ensure that An Garda Síochána have the resources they need to keep people safe. This includes a record Budget allocation of over €2.35 billion, increasing the maximum age of entry to 50 and boosting the training allowance by 66% to €305 per week. This year’s Garda recruitment competition also received almost 6,400 applications, a significant increase on the 5,000 applications last year.

At present, 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.