GARDA COMMISSIONER Martin Callinan has nominated a large group of Garda superintendents for promotion to chief superintendent in an attempt to ensure key senior posts in the force are filled ahead of an anticipated spike in retirements in the next six months.
Of the 44 chief superintendents working across the Garda, 33 have 30 years’ service and are eligible to retire early.
Twelve superintendents have now been included on a list from which vacant chief superintendent posts will be filled. Their promotions must be franked at by the Cabinet.
The promotions are proceeding despite the public sector recruitment and promotions moratorium because the Government is so concerned at the extent of the brain drain about to hit the senior ranks across the force.
The superintendents on the list for promotion to chief superintendent are: Mark Curran (currently based in Coolock), John Gilligan (head of the Garda press office), John McMahon (National Bureau of Criminal Investigation), Diarmuid O’Sullivan (Special Detective Unit), Ger Dillane (traffic Supt in Anglesea Street, Cork), John Scanlon (Roxboro Road, Limerick), Orla McPartlin (liaison and protection), Aidan Glackin (Athlone), Frank Clerkin (Store Street), Michael Clancy (Monaghan), Michael O’Sullivan (Garda National Drugs Unit) and Pat Clavin (Ronanstown).
It has not yet been decided what chief superintendents posts they will fill.
Chief superintendents have statutory powers such as the ability to approve an extension to the period of detention of a suspect arrested for serious crime, though long extensions need court approval.
They also head all of the special units in the force, such as the National Drugs Unit and the Criminal Assets Bureau, and also run policing in Garda divisions across the country.
The number of vacancies now expected to open is seen by the Government as too great not to fill at least some.
The move comes as 1,200 members of the 14,200-strong force are eligible to retire. Such a number is not unusual because all members can take early retirement between the ages of 50 and 60, when they must retire on age grounds.
However, after the end of next February any public servant who retires, including Garda members, will have the recent public sector pay cuts reflected in their pensions.
The pension entitlements of those who retire before the end of February will be the same as they would have been before the pay cuts in recent years. It means many gardaí are expected to leave by the February deadline to ensure they get the highest pension possible.
The Garda pension is equal to half of the retiring member’s salary.
Many Garda members are also fearful that the tax-free gratuity they receive on retirement is about to be taxed.
When these fears last surfaced two years ago, the number of retirements jumped to more than 800 from the usual levels of about 250 to 300 per year.
“When you throw the pension reductions into the mix, we think a huge number of people are going to go and that lots of those will be senior people who have most to lose in terms of pensions if they wait [to retire],” said one Garda source.