JAMES HAMILTON, the Director of Public Prosecutions, is to retire in November after 12 years in the position, he has informed the Government.
He told The Irish Timesthat when he was appointed to succeed Eamonn Barnes he had intended to spend 10 years in the job and this stretched to 12. He said his decision was not "prompted" by the recent changes in pension arrangements for senior public servants but he "would not say this was not a factor".
Mr Hamilton is already eligible for his pension. Next year, a new regime comes into force which will mean a cut in pension and lump sum payments for highly paid public servants. Because a pension is tied to existing salary, cuts will affect the pension of those who retire. Those who retire before the end of the year will have pensions linked to their previous salary.
This will equally affect the lump sum, a multiple of 1½ times final salary. After next February, the lump sum of retiring public servants will be calculated on the basis of reduced salaries.
These “harsh realities” forced him to take stock, he said, and he felt this was a good time to go.
He said he was happy there were good internal candidates to succeed him, and expected there would be well-qualified external candidates for the job.