CHANGES TO THE retirement age and maximum recruitment age for military personnel come into effect today.

The measure is an attempt to ease the staffing crisis in the Defence Forces.

Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin has announced that the mandatory retirement and maximum recruitment ages for Reserve Defence Force (RDF) personnel are being brought in line with recently announced changes for Permanent Defence Force (PDF) personnel.

In the case of both the RDF and the PDF, the mandatory retirement age is being raised to 60.

This applies to all ranks that previously had a mandatory retirement age below 60. When legislated for, the further increase in the mandatory retirement age for all Permanent Defence Force ranks to 62 will also be applied to Reserve Defence Force personnel.

The maximum recruitment age for the RDF and the PDF is also being increased from 26 to 39. These measures come into effect today.

As The Journal has previously reported, the military is in the grip of a staffing retention crisis and “ludicrous” situation had developed where experienced officers and enlisted personnel were being forced to retire early.

Announcing the changes, the Tánaiste said:

“The regeneration of the Reserve Defence Force is a key focus for this Government and these changes are an important step in that process.

“It is essential that the Defence Forces recruit, retain, and develop for the future, skilled personnel and key specialists. A vital element of this will be the development of a Reserve Defence Force that can seamlessly train, operate and deploy on a voluntary basis, with the Permanent Defence Force, both here and overseas.”

With reporting by Niall O’Connor