VACANCIES:DIRECTOR OF Corporate Enforcement Paul Appleby is to retain his salary of over €150,000 per annum for the six months he stays on in the job after his retirement.
Under the terms of an agreement reached between Mr Appleby and Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton yesterday, Mr Appleby will retire at the end of February on a pension of €75,356.
On March 1st, he will take up the position of acting director for a period of six months. The appointment will be on his current salary, subject to normal abatement rules, according to the department.
This means Mr Appleby’s pension will be topped up to his former salary of €150,712 for the period. Under the terms of his retirement, he is also entitled to a lump sum of €226,028 at the end of the month.
Mr Appleby (57), who is in charge of the four-year investigation by his office into the former Anglo Irish Bank, told the minister last Friday he was retiring.
He made his decision public on Tuesday but later in the day agreed to stay on for another six months. This followed a meeting with the Minister on Monday and Cabinet discussion of his departure the following day.
In a separate development yesterday, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter said an “appropriate” number of senior Garda vacancies would be filled in the near future.
He was commenting after it emerged that half of the 10 assistant commissioner posts in the Garda are vacant or are due to become vacant by February 29th.
Garda assistant commissioner Mick Feehan, who heads policing in Dublin, said yesterday he was taking early retirement, bringing to five the vacancies at assistant commissioner level, the third most senior rank in the force.
Mr Shatter said in Belfast that he would bring a proposal to the Government shortly on the appointment of an appropriate number of officers.
“The number of retirements that have occurred, the number of people who have availed of the scheme for retirement prior to the end of February and notified their intention to retire – that is an issue that is going to be addressed very, very shortly.”
He did not specify how many vacancies would be filled. Fianna Fáil spokesman on justice Dara Calleary said the senior Garda posts needed to be filled immediately.
