The Minister for Justice will discuss with representative bodies, within the next fortnight, extending to 60 years the Garda retirement age, the Dáil was told.
Mr McDowell said his objective was to have "a fit, active and experienced force with an appropriate balance as regards the age profile and experience, and I have considered the retirement ages applicable to the Garda with this aim in mind."
The Minister was replying to the Fine Gael spokesman on justice, Mr John Deasy, who asked what plans he had to stem the increased retirement rate within Garda ranks.
Mr McDowell said that currently all ranks within the Garda up to chief superintendent were eligible for pension if they had a minimum 30 years' service and were 50 years old. Ranks up to and including inspector must retire at 57 years, while a retirement age of 60 applied to ranks above that level, with some exceptions providing for retirement at 65.
He said the Commission on Public Service Pensions had recommended that members up to the rank of inspector should have the option of being retained to a maximum age of 60 rather than 57, subject to meeting minimum health and fitness standards.
Mr Deasy said that while he appreciated the Minister's response, the problem was bigger than Mr McDowell understood it to be.
"The fact is that we are facing about 600 retirements this year in the Garda," he added. "That is a massive number."
He said one of the reasons gardaí were retiring in such great numbers was because morale was low.
