Govt continues to rehire retired public servants as thousands remain on the dole – Troy

Posted by Robert Troy TD


Longford-Westmeath TD Robert Troy has called on the government to immediately end the wide-scale practice of rehiring retired public servants including teachers while thousands of qualified personnel remain on the Live Register.

Deputy Troy has called for the Government to bring forward the Public Service Management Recruitment and Appointments Act Amendment Bill and to ensure the legislation stops this practice.

Deputy Troy: “This Bill must include provisions to ensure that public servants who retire on large pensions will not be rehired at a time when huge numbers of qualified unemployed people cannot get work. In response to a series of Parliamentary Questions from my colleague Deputy Brendan Smith, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn admitted that 254 retired secondary school teachers and 67 retired primary school teachers have been rehired by his Department.

“New figures show that there are now 8,674 teachers on the Live Register as well as thousands more teaching graduates that have not been able to start a career here yet. However instead of these unemployed teachers being given the opportunity to start their career, the Department of Education has given jobs to retired teachers, who are in receipt of pensions, to fill a number of key vacant posts at primary and secondary schools.

“This is a disgraceful situation and the Bill should be brought before the House without delay. Aside from proper legislation in this are we need the Government to be proactive and instruct all departments to ensure those who are out of work are prioritised for jobs that match their skill set.”