Two Garda Assistant Commissioners have postponed their retirement at a "challenging time for the country."
Gardaí have confirmed that two of An Garda Síochána's Assistant Commissioners will not retire in the next few months, as had originally been planned.
According to a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon Minister for Justice & Equality Charlie Flanagan has agreed to a request from Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to increase the retirement age of Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll.
O’Driscoll, who heads up Special Crime Operations, was due to retire in June 2020. His new retirement date is 28 June 2022. O'Driscoll has been on the force since 1981.
The extension of Assistant Commissioner O’Driscoll’s retirement age was made by the Minister for Justice and Equality under the provisions of Garda Síochana (Retirement) (No.2) Regulations 1951.
The law allows for the Garda Commissioner to "extend, where it appears to be in the interests of the efficiency of the Garda Síochána so to do, the age at which any member of the Garda Síochána would retire" by no more than two years.
Additionally, Assistant Commissioner Patrick Leahy has agreed to defer his planned retirement for three months. Assistant Commissioner Leahy was due to retire at the end of March 2020. Leahy has been a Garda since 1982, and currently oversees the Dublin Metropolitan Region.
While no specific reason was given for the extensions, the Garda statement noted that "Commissioner Harris thanked both Assistant Commissioners for their decisions at this challenging time for the country."
The Senior Leadership Team of An Garda Síochána includes a total of eight Assistant Commissioners.
