Retired gardaí ‘struggling financially’, representative body claims

Retired gardaí who gave the best years of their working lives to the State are financially supporting their adult children on reduced pensions after having gone guarantor for them on large mortgages during the boom, the Garda Retired Members Association has said.

President of the association Gerry Blake said pensions for a retired former members of Garda ranks had fallen from €29,000 a decade ago to €26,000 at present.

His members had spent decades serving in often difficult policing posts, and as well as seeing their pensions reduced and facing stealth taxes that further drained their resources, they were providing a range of supports to their adult children.

“We did a survey of our members and 71 per cent said they were supporting their adult children; from paying the mortgages and other debts to providing childcare to their grandchildren,” he said.

The provision of funds to service mortgages drawn down during the boom was not a matter of choice for his members who had gone guarantor for their adult children in the past, as they would face financial ruin if the loans were not repaid.

“They are even helping out with buying basics like food,” he said.

“What we are seeing are high levels of stress, anxiety and even depression with many expressing the view that ‘there is no future’.”

Added to that, their adult children and spouses were working during the day and with no funds to pay for childcare, and many of his 5,700 members were providing that care on a full-time basis.

“We all had great ideas about our retirement, doing all the things that we always wanted to and of course spending time with the grandchildren, but not in the kind of permanent way that many of the members are doing.

“If you have a look outside schools these days, in many cases it’s the grandparents dropping off and collecting.”

Mr Blake said a seminar held by the association in Sligo yesterday encouraged retired gardaí to use their votes wisely at the upcoming local and European elections, and to raise their concerns with candidates they met.

The association was also calling on the Government to repeal the emergency legislation that had led to the pensions of public servants being reduced.