Civilian driver for An Garda Síochana wins right to work after 70 because pension was so small he faced poverty

A civilian driver for An Garda Síochána who was made retire at 70 has won the right to stay at work for another three years after a tribunal found he faced falling into poverty because his pension is so small.
Upholding an age discrimination complaint under the Employment Equality Act 1998 by the worker, Tom Ronan, the Workplace Relations Commission concluded that the State had failed to show that a mandatory retirement age was reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances.
The tribunal heard that Mr Ronan had been left with less than €400 a week to live on when he was retired from the job on March 27th last year – as he only had what the tribunal considered a “relatively low occupational pension” that brought his annual income to €20,600 when combined with his State entitlements.
Mr Ronan, a civil servant, had started work with the Department of Justice in January 2020 working as a driver, and was later transferred into An Garda Síochána, the tribunal was told. Having reached a mandatory retirement age of 70, he was retired from his position on March 27th 2023.
At hearings earlier this year, Mr Ronan’s position was that he was “still willing and fit to work” and that he had older colleagues who were still working the same job.
His barrister, John M Lynch BL, instructed by Healy Law Dublin LLP said the “distinguishing feature” of his client’s case was the “financial hardship” faced by Mr Ronan.
At the time of a hearing on October 10th, Mr Ronan’s contributory State pension was due to be increased by €12 in Budget 2025 to stand at €289 a week, but apart from that he only had a civil service pension worth €88.65 a week and a private pension paying €19.23 a week, the tribunal was told.
That left Mr Ronan with under €400 a week to live on.
Niall Fahy BL, for the State, said Mr Ronan’s pension was “reasonable, especially when compared to many other pensioners”.
“While his pension income maybe modest he is in receipt of the contributory state pension, his relatively smaller defined benefit pension that is indexed and another pension from a previous employer,” Mr Fahy submitted.
Adjudicator Brian Dalton said the State had a “legitimate objective” in pursuing a mandatory retirement age of 70. However, he said he had to consider the question of financial hardship arising from Mr Ronan’s “relatively low occupational pension” in assessing whether the mandatory retirement age was proportionate.
He found that Mr Ronan “will not have an adequate income arising from his mandatory retirement” and “is highly likely to experience financial hardship”.
He gave An Garda Síochána four weeks to re-engage Mr Ronan as a driver, to extend his employment for three years from the date of re-engagement, and to take that service into account in pension calculations.