Mandatory retirement age for full-time and retained firefighters to rise to 62

The Minister for Housing Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O'Brien TD, has secured approval to increase the mandatory retirement age for both full-time and retained firefighters up to the age of 62.

This increase in the mandatory retirement age in the uniformed services, including the fire services, will be facilitated by amendments to the relevant pension legislation to be brought forward by Minister Donohoe.

Following the Government's recent approval of an increase in the mandatory retirement age for certain members of the uniformed services, Minister O'Brien committed to examining a similar extension to the mandatory retirement age for all firefighters with a view to providing consistency across the uniformed services.

Minister O'Brien has now secured approval for that change and Minister Donohoe has confirmed the necessary legislative amendments to facilitate an extension of the mandatory age of retirement for uniformed services up to the age of 62 would include both full-time and retained fire service personnel. It is expected that the necessary legislative provisions can be enacted before the Dáil summer recess.

Commenting, Minister O'Brien stated:

"Firefighters are an integral part of the communities they serve so committedly. Firefighters save lives, prevent damage to residential and commercial property, protect critical infrastructure and safeguard the environment.

Local authority Retained fire services have been actively recruiting significant levels of new personnel to better align existing work patterns with modern life and enhance the emergency response capacity of local fire brigades and we want to support them in this regard.

I have visited full-time and retained fire services across the country over the last twelve months and seen first-hand the dedication and enthusiasm among firefighters and senior leadership in the Fire Service to embrace change and continuously improve the fire services. I listened to them as they spoke of the challenges they experience and the aspirations they have for the job they love.

This extension of the mandatory retirement age up to 62 will serve to further strengthen fire services, not only through the retention of long serving personnel during a period of change but will also allow the opportunity for that knowledge and expertise of existing experienced personnel to transfer to new recruits at their regular training, drill nights and operationally where it matters most."

The extension of the mandatory retirement age for firefighters is the latest in a number of initiatives aimed at resolving retention and recruitment issues within the retained fire services following the publication of the Department reports "Retained Fire Services in Ireland - A Review of the Recruitment and Retention and the Future Sustainability of Service Delivery".

Local authorities are implementing WRC recommendations that will see:

• an approximate increase of 20% in retained firefighter numbers to provide a minimum of 12 fire fighters in all retained fire stations
• structured time off that would enable a retained firefighter to be away from their station fire ground for up to 24 weeks of the year
• flexibility to attend calls when scheduled on leave, if desired
• guaranteed fixed minimum earnings in excess of €20,000

In tandem with the further increase agreed under the Public Sector Pay deal, Retained firefighters also secured a further commitment to examine an increase to their annual fixed retainer payment.

ENDS