Pictured is a commissioning ceremony of Defence Forces officers in 2018. RACO, the officers’ association, said the cadet entry age increase “will have implications for the viability of a career in the Defence Forces, when one considers the impact of the career average earnings model for superannuation, let alone the strict fitness and medical requirements imposed on new entrants to the organisation.” File photo: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie
The mandatory retirement age for all members of the Defence Forces will be increased at the end of this month to 62, while the entry age will go up from 26 to 39.
The mandatory retirement age for gardaí and prison officers has also been increased to 62 in a bid to address staffing issues.
Both will come into effect on March 29 and while the move has been broadly welcomed by the two Defence Forces representative associations, the body representing officers has expressed concern about increasing the cadet entry age to 39.
RACO, the officers’ association, said the cadet entry age increase “will have implications for the viability of a career in the Defence Forces, when one considers the impact of the career average earnings model for superannuation, let alone the strict fitness and medical requirements imposed on new entrants to the organisation.”
“Our association has written to the Department of Defence seeking evidence-based analysis (for the move) including implications underpinning this hugely significant increase, as this has not been provided to our association which it should have been, according to agreed rules of procedure under the Conciliation an Arbitration Scheme,” a RACO spokesman said.
Mark Keane, president of PDForra which represents enlisted personnel, said his association “had fought long and hard for years” to get the retirement age increase.
“This will give personnel and their families more security of tenure. It's the potential to aid retention, but we should remember all those highly skilled people who were forced to exit the Defence Forces early on previous mandatory retirement grounds,” he said.
The increase in age profiles was announced by Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin, while Minister Paschal Donohoe has granted approval for a new fast accrual pensions policy framework and is preparing legislation which, when enacted, will allow for a further increase in the mandatory retirement age for all ranks to 62.
“This change to the mandatory retirement age, which affects almost all personnel, will enable the Defence Forces to retain highly trained and experienced staff. It’s essential that the Defence Forces retain, and develop for the future, skilled personnel and key specialists. Also, raising the recruitment age to 39 will mean more people will be eligible to sign up for a rewarding career in the Permanent Defence Forces,” Mr Martin said.
He acknowledged the recruitment and retention challenges facing the country’s military, but maintained the measures are a further step towards addressing these issues while also modernising the organisation as a whole.
Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Lieutenant General Seán Clancy, said it’s the first rise in mandatory retirement ages for Defence Forces personnel since 1963 and broadly in line with what has been implemented in other Western military.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee welcomed the increase in retirement age for gardaí and the prison service. "It will help us to retain the skills, the knowledge, the expertise that we know exists and there is a demand for this," she said.