A Fine Gael government would increase the retirement age for Army officers to 60 because the Defence Forces were being damaged by mandatory retirements of senior officers in their 50s, Billy Timmins, the Fine Gael spokesman on defence, said yesterday.
He said that because of the current retirement regulations, 161 officers would be forced to retire on age grounds over the next four years, resulting in a needless loss of experienced personnel and a threat to the corporate memory in the Defence Forces.
"It is extremely damaging to the Defence Forces that all commandants and lieutenant colonels are forced to retire at 56 and 58, respectively. These regulations threaten the corporate memory of the Army and this loss of experienced personnel will be felt most keenly over the next few years," he said.
Mr Timmins added that information supplied to him in response to Dáil questions had revealed that the Defence Forces would lose 161 senior officers to retirement between now and 2011 because of age regulations..
"At a time when we are expecting more and more from the Defence Forces, particularly in the area of overseas service and EU battle group participation, it is neither helpful nor wise to set retirement ages at such a low threshold as 56.
"Considering that the Garda retirement age has been increased to 60, having such low retirement ages for Army officers also fails to make sense," he added.
Mr Timmins also said raising the retirement age would alleviate the strain on senior officers from overseas service.
