Garda early retirement scheme
Deputy Shortall asked whether the Garda restructuring retirement scheme would be targeted rather than voluntary, fearing weak staff retention effects. The Minister for Justice said it would be targeted, funded at €6.5 million, and implemented early next year.
Even though she came in after the cut-off, I call Deputy Shortall to ask a short appropriate question.
Comment on this
I ask about the Garda restructuring plan. My understanding was that the proposed incentivised early retirement scheme would be a targeted scheme, but in recent days it has been suggested that it would be a voluntary scheme. Given the experience with restructuring elsewhere, for example, in the HSE, where sometimes the best people leave under those schemes and those people who ideally would leave stay on, can we ensure it will be a targeted scheme?
Comment on this
The Government approved the plan earlier in the week. I am satisfied that the Garda Commissioner will now commence implementing the scheme. A sum of €6.5 million has been made available. It was always going to be a targeted scheme designed to proceed along the lines as envisaged in the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. It is expected that real progress on the severance scheme will be made, commencing early next year.