The Department of Justice has said no talks have taken place with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris about another contract extension.
The claim follows reports in The Irish Times the option of a contract extension was mooted with him by Government.
Several well-placed sources said at least two approaches have been made by Government to Mr Harris, assessing his willingness to remain on for a period. Those approaches were made to determine if he might be willing to remain on as a positive response would have been required before any formal process commenced to further extend his contract.
However, as he was not seeking to remain on in his post beyond his current two-year extension, and made that clear, a formal process, or substantive negotiations, never arose.
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Mr Harris, who has made no comment on the matter, was appointed Garda Commissioner in 2018, for a five-year term. However, before that contract expired in 2023, the Government offered him a two-year extension, which he accepted.
[ Drew Harris rules out extending his contract as Garda CommissionerOpens in new window ]
That extension will bring his tenure as commissioner up to early next summer. As he turns 60 years next year, any second contract extension would not be as straightforward as his first.
Mr Harris would need to apply for permission to be allowed to continue to serve in the Garda, a process that was not required for his first contract extension. It means he would effectively have to undertake an application process for a second extension.
The Irish Times learned he was approached by Government about the possibility he may stay on in the role beyond next summer. However, sources said that, at this point, he prefers to move on after what will be a seven-year tenure by the time he leaves in about 10 months.
When approached to determine if he may be interested in remaining in the job for longer, because he indicated he had no plans to do so, the process of applying to remain serving in the Garda did not arise and no formal process or negotiations were undertaken.
The Department of Justice on Friday issued a statement saying Mr Harris had the full support of Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, but denied any moves were made to extend his contract.
“Minister McEntee fully supports the Garda Commissioner,” the statement said. “However, no conversation has taken place with the Minister or with Government in relation to any further extension of the commissioner’s term.”
A spokesman for Mr Harris on Friday said Garda Headquarters had nothing further to add to a statement it issued on Thursday when asked about the recent approaches to Mr Harris to assess if he may be interested in remaining on as commissioner.
“Following a previous Government proposal, Commissioner Harris’s contract was extended by an additional two years to mid-2025,” Garda Headquarters said in reply to the initial queries. “An Garda Síochána does not comment or speculate on a vacancy that does not exist.”
The Irish Times on Thursday put a range of questions to the Department of Justice about issues with succession planning in the Garda, including a dispute over long-serving Garda officers being reluctant to apply for the vacant deputy commissioner’s role.
Those queries were referred to the Department of Finance. It said a matter relating to taxation on large Garda pensions – and other large pensions across the wider workforce – was being considered by Minister for Finance Jack Chambers.
That pension issue means senior officers will be exposed to tax bills of several hundred thousand Euros on retirement. It has resulted in assistant commissioners currently serving being reluctant to apply for the deputy commissioner’s post as their exposure will further increase because that post carries a higher salary.
The issue resulted in none of the assistant commissioners applying for the role of deputy commissioner when it was advertised last year. That process had to be discontinued, which was a major embarrassment for both the Government and the Garda.
And now both the assistant commissioners and chief superintendents are still reluctant to apply with for the role, the deadline for which passes the week after next. The senior officers believed the post would not be advertised again until clarity was brought to the pensions issue.
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