A voluntary severance package for senior members of An Garda Síochána is now at a "well advanced" stage, a garda spokesman has confirmed.
The move will be aimed at garda managers of the rank of superintendent and above, as well as executive directors in the force, and follows a recommendation to bring it about by the Commission on the Future of Policing.
It noted that such a one-off targeted severance option should be available “as it is to be expected and entirely understandable that not all personnel will want to go through the kind of transform we envisage.”
However, a report that this could include half a year’s pay on top of normal entitlements could not be immediately confirmed.
“Garda management will now engage with relevant staff associations. As the severance package will require regulation change, which will take a number of months, no senior managers will leave under the programme in 2019,” the spokesman said.
The exact number and rank of senior managers who will be allowed avail of the severance package will be at the discretion of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and will be "based on operational requirements".
