Senior gardaí say they feel “duped” over recent moves by the Government to change the tax liability on large public service pensions. Their annoyance over the changes is likely to complicate efforts by the State to fill a number of senior positions in the Garda in the coming months, including finding a replacement for Drew Harris as Garda Commissioner.
However, the Policing Authority – which nominates candidates to fill senior posts and also oversees the recruitment competitions – has said the senior Garda roles were “extremely well-remunerated” and should be attractive to many senior officers.
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Garda sources said any long-standing member who applies for the Garda Commissioner’s post, to succeed Drew Harris next year, would face a tax liability of at least €500,000 when they eventually retired. The sources added that the liability is so large they doubted any long-serving Garda members would apply for the job.
That raises the prospect of only candidates from outside the Republic or those who recently joined the Garda from other police forces – none of whom would be impacted by the tax liability – would apply for the role of Garda Commissioner, which will be advertised in the first half of next year. The dispute may erupt again within weeks when a vacancy at assistant commissioner level is advertised.
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A promise to the officers that the pension tax issue would be addressed broke an embarrassing and long-running impasse over filling the vacant deputy commissioner post. Assistant Commissioner Justin Kelly was announced two weeks ago as the successful candidate, a year after the job was first advertised.
Several sources said an assurance by Government to senior officers was enough to persuade several high-ranking Garda members to apply for the deputy commissioner’s post. But when the Government recently announced changes to the pension tax issue, they did not go as far as the officers were led to believe, much to their annoyance.
The Policing Authority said while it was aware of the “personal concerns raised” by some in the Garda, the standard fund threshold (SFT) was not something it had any influence over but pointed out it applied to all workers.
“It has universal application across the public and private sectors and taxation matters are dependent on individual, personal circumstances,” the authority said. “The senior roles in the An Garda Síochána are exciting and challenging roles and are extremely well-remunerated. The authority would hope that they will therefore be very attractive to a wide range of candidates.”
The issue centres on the SFT which meant once a pension was worth more than €2 million, an effective rate of tax of up to 72 per cent applied on any excess, resulting in large tax liabilities on retirement. Some Garda officers who retired in recent years face a liability of several hundred thousand euro.
Last month, after a review by independent expert Dr Donal de Buitléir, the Government announced the SFT was being increased on a phased basis to €2.8 million, starting in 2026 and increasing by €200,000 per year until 2029.
The Government did not implement the full recommendations of the review, which included a 10 per cent reduction, from 40 per cent, to the chargeable excess tax on large pensions.
The Department of Finance said the Minister had “considered [Dr Buitléir’s] report carefully, and, taking into account the recommendations of the report, Government have agreed to implement a staggered approach to changes to the SFT regime, with some changes to be legislated for this year and others to be considered in the future”.
The Department of Justice said the SFT was a matter for the Department of Finance.
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