Information "road shows" and "pre-decision" interviews for RUC officers interested in taking early retirement begin next week as part of the programme to reduce the size of the police force in Northern Ireland and increase Catholic representation.
The information seminars, which are being held with the assistance of outside business consultants, are part of a drive to reduce the regular force by 2,500 from more than 12,000 and disband the 2,500-strong reserve force over the next five years. It is expected that 600 police officers will be given early retirement packages before the end of this financial year.
The early retirement packages include sizeable payments to senior officers. They could amount to as much as £300,000 sterling for a superintendent aged 50 with 30 years' service.
The attractiveness of the compensation packages for middle and senior management personnel has led to a view that there could be gaps in management which might have to be filled by recruiting officers with experience from other police forces, including the Garda Siochana.
During the past few decades there has been only a tiny amount of "lateral" recruitment between the RUC and the Garda. In one or two instances officers have switched between the forces, usually as a result of marrying and wishing to continue a career in policing in Northern Ireland. There have also been a small number of ex-British army members from the Republic who served in Northern Ireland and then joined the RUC.
The idea of "lateral" transfers was mooted after the publication of the Patten Report on policing in Northern Ireland in the autumn of 1998.
In the past two years there has been a marked increase in joint training programmes, with gardai studying RUC policing techniques at their depots in Garnerville, east Belfast, and at ranges in Co Down. RUC officers have been travelling to the Garda College at Templemore, Co Tipperary, to examine the training programmes there.
According to sources close to the process, there is little opposition among RUC management to the idea of gardai with management experience moving into positions in the North.
Most opposition is likely to come from anti-agreement unionists and loyalist extremists.
The sources say that the reduction process could lead to a shortfall in middle management as the police force is reduced from a strength of more than 12,000 to a target strength of 7,500.
In order to increase the Catholic representation in the new force, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, it is likely that the cuts will go deeper than the 5,000 initially planned for.
There is unhappiness among the less senior ranks about the early retirement packages, particularly for constable (equivalent of garda) rank. A constable aged 50, assuming enhanced pensionable service of 30 years, would receive an index-linked pension of £13,162 sterling and a lump sum of £133,818. However, this lump sum would fall to £78,974 for a constable aged 54.
Figures released to the Police Federation of Northern Ireland during the summer show that the most generous awards are to senior superintendents.
A superintendent aged 50 with 30 years' service would receive a payment of £309,790 and an index-linked pension of £27,742. A superintendent aged 54 could expect the same pension and a lump sum of £233,498.
The RUC has been devoting considerable resources to assisting the exit of officers.