The race to become the next deputy commissioner of An Garda Síochána has become more competitive than expected, with at least five of the eight current assistant commissioners having applied.
The position, the second most senior in the force, was first advertised last year but the process came to an embarrassing end when it was discontinued due to too few suitable candidates applying.
This was a result of almost all of the serving assistant commissioners refusing to go forward for promotion because of a dispute over the high levels of tax that would apply to their pensions on retirement.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee initially said the role would not be advertised again until the pensions issue, which impacts all workers with pension pots of more than €2 million, was resolved.
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However, the role was again posted in July, a move that infuriated many senior officers. The application deadline had to be extended last month when most of the assistant commissioners again opted against putting themselves forward.
Senior officers have in the last fortnight been given assurances that the pension matter would be resolved, perhaps by raising the threshold at which high taxation rates for large pensions kick in and index-linking that threshold.
As a result, at least five of the eight serving assistant commissioners have applied for the deputy commissioner role. A small number of chief superintendents have also entered the race, while several candidates from outside the State are also understood to be seeking the job.
The news will be welcomed by the Government and Garda headquarters, which looks set to be spared having to again discontinue the recruitment process for what should be one of the most coveted jobs in Irish policing.
The successful candidate, especially if they have spent their entire careers in the force, would be regarded as being in a strong position to succeed Garda Commissioner Drew Harris when his contract expires next year. However, security and justice sources noted an assistant commissioner could potentially leapfrog the deputy commissioner rank and fill the commissioner job.
Meanwhile, judges, doctors, pilots and senior civil servants have maintained that the failure of Government to index link the limits on the capital value of tax-relieved pension benefits that an individual can draw over a lifetime had inadvertently pushed them into the net of facing significant taxation on retirement.
Recent pay rises for those at higher levels in the public service have also seen them drawn in to this tax net.
About 100 individuals or groups have made submissions to a Government-appointed review headed by Dr Donal de Buitléir, a former banker and Revenue official.
Department of Finance documents show Ms McEntee wrote to the then minister for finance Michael McGrath last December on behalf of judges. In late January, Mr Harris wrote to the Department of Finance on the issue of the standard fund threshold. It emerged last year that concern over tax implications on retirement was dissuading gardaí from seeking promotion to more senior positions.
The standard fund threshold level has been set at €2 million since 2014, at which point taxation above 70 per cent taxation applies, leading to tax bills of between €200,000-€300,000 for some senior Garda officers who have retired in recent years.
Public service pension schemes, particularly those in place before 2013, generally provide for 50 per cent of salary and a lump sum of 1½ times salary based on full service.
Groups such as doctors argue that current salary levels could see them hit the standard fund threshold (SFT) limit years before normal retirement age – which could encourage some to depart ahead of schedule.
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