Garda's pension not yet decided

No decision has been made yet on the pension of the suspended Det Sgt John White, his solicitor said yesterday.

No decision has been made yet on the pension of the suspended Det Sgt John White, his solicitor said yesterday.

Last month, Sgt White told the Sligo/Donegal radio station Ocean FM that he was "going" on full pension from today.

At the time of his suspension from the force, over five years ago, he had almost 26 years of service in the Garda, short of the 30 years needed to retire on a full pension.

He is claiming that the years he has spent on suspension from the force should be counted as pensionable service. He has been receiving 90 per cent of his salary during this time.

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"I'm going on September 12th, on pension as far as I know," he said last month. "I do not see how they could possibly take my pension from me. I have paid into that pension every week for 32 years. That is my money in the pension."

Yesterday, his solicitor Paudge Dorrian, said no decisions had been taken on the pension issue.

A Garda spokeswoman said she presumed that Sgt White would be entitled to retire on full pension if he had paid into it, regardless of whether he had been suspended for part of that service.

Sgt White has been implicated by the Morris tribunal in the planting of a shotgun in a Travellers' camp and the planting of a hoax device on a telecommunications mast.

But last year he was acquitted in Letterkenny Circuit Court of perverting the course of justice and of making false statements. In July he was acquitted of planting the shotgun in the Travellers' camp. He has rejected the Morris findings, saying that they were based on "hearsay, innuendo and rumour".

Alison Healy

Alison Healy

Alison Healy is a contributor to The Irish Times