Retiring gardaí to receive average €107k payoff

Retiring gardaí will receive pension payoffs of over €107,000 each this year as part of the Government’s scheme to reduce public sector numbers.

They will also receive an average pension payment of €33,000 per year.

About 300 gardaí, including many in senior positions, have indicated an intention to avail of the early retirement packages.

There is growing concern about the exodus in coming weeks of senior members of the force, who will walk away with a shared €42m this year alone.

Figures obtained by the Irish Examiner show the 300 retiring gardaí will receive lump sum payments totalling about 32m, averaging out at almost €107,000 per member.

They will also get their pensions on top of this at an average €33,000 each per annum at a cost of €10m this year, the Department of Justice figures reveal.

Separately, figures from the Department of Defence show that retiring soldiers availing of the scheme in January and February will get lump sum payments of €50,000 each and an annual pension of €21,159.

The cost for the department for the retiring 345 soldiers will be about €24.5m for this year alone.

The Irish Examiner revealed last week how teachers are set to retire by the Feb 29 deadline with lump sum payments of €97,000 each.

The estimated 1,600 teachers who have applied for the deal will also receive annual pensions of €32,300.

The total bill for the first year will be close to €212m, with many of the teachers expected to be re-hired as the department struggles to fill resulting vacancies.

The Department of Education is not subject to the recruitment embargo and plans to replace the retiring teachers. However, both justice and defence will not be replacing their respective retiring employees.

The Department of Environment yesterday said it could not provide a breakdown of the estimated 730 public servants who were expected to leave local authorities in the coming weeks under the scheme.

A total of 7,700 public servants are expected to leave their positions at the end of the month under the early retirement scheme. Senior ministers have pledged that frontline services would not be affected.