Public Sector Pensions
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-11
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Eoghan Kenny (LAB), Cork North-Central

On the face of it, that is a complete and utter "No". Do Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and the Government for many years now, not realise that the men and women in our Defence Forces, An Garda Síochána, fire services and Prison Service go above and beyond? What we have right now in all of our public service, but particularly in our uniformed services, is a retention and recruitment crisis. All of those groups I mentioned - gardaí, firefighters, Defence Forces personnel and Prison Service staff - have stated that, because of this pension scheme, more and more people are leaving early. If you are told at the age of 55 that you have to get a new job, why would you not do so now? You would because you do not know what condition you will be in at 55. That is no disrespect to anybody but it is a fact.
On the face of the Minister's reply, I am taking it as a complete "No".

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-11