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Retired engineer: "Council faces
skills vacuum"
01.03.12
by Linda McGrory
A SENIOR Donegal County Council engineer said the
local authority is facing a skills "vacuum" as a
result of the early retirement of experienced
workers.
Vincent Lynn who has more than 30 years' service
with Donegal County Council retired yesterday,
several years early, to avoid less favourable
pension terms due to come into effect today. The
Department of Public Expenditure and Reform said
some 3% of public servants nationally have opted to
leave.
Mr Lynn who undertook his final engagement in
Greencastle yesterday said the early retirement
scheme was a "sledge hammer approach" to a problem.
"There was an incentive there to retire which made
it stupid to stay working but the whole thing is
silly because there are a lot of very experienced
people leaving at the one time and that will create
a vacuum. |
"A lot of people my age
keep stuff in their heads compared to the younger
ones who are great on the computers. In the last six
months I have been trying to get all the experience
that's in my head into other people's heads.
"It was a sledge hammer approach to a problem and I
think it will create a lot of problems in the short
term - problems with people not having the initial
knowledge of the work."
Mr Lynn, who had responsibility for marine, winter
maintenance and training, joined the local authority
in 1981. He said a total of some 38 local authority
staff, across all grades, have retired in the last
several months. |
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Vincent Lynn. |
Other senior local
authority staff to take early retirement include
county secretary, Eunan Sweeney; senior engineer,
James Boyle and acting fire chief, Bobby McMenamin.
Mr McMenamin retired on Tuesday four and a half
years early and after nearly 38 years' service. He
said: "I started as a retained fire fighter in
Buncrana in 1974 and was acting chief when I
retired. It takes a while to make up your mind but
once I made the decision I was happy with it. It's a
big change in life after doing something for thirty
seven and a half years." Mr McMenamin was the only
fire service employee in Co Donegal to leave under
the early scheme. He said his vacancy and all
natural retirement vacancies in the fire service
have been filled with "no changes to frontline
staff". The new acting fire chief for Donegal is
Joseph McTaggart.
Meanwhile, primary school principal, Gerard O'Kane,
of Craigstown N.S., only recently decided not to
retire early.
"I've decided not to go early because it was a bad
time of the year for the school. I've another one or
two years to go now," he said. He said he didn't
think Inishowen schools would be too badly affected
by the early retirement scheme but said Deis cuts
would be the most significant challenge ahead.
It is understood some six Gardaí retired last year
in the Buncrana district with around two more
expected to leave in the coming weeks. It was also
reported this week that Newtowncunningham, which
comes under the Letterkenny Garda District, is
losing two members to retirement.
Latest Government information across the public
service indicates that 7,464 people had applied to
retire in the first two months of this year. The
breakdown is as follows: health, 2,567; education,
2,058; Civil Service, 1,236; local authority, 931;
defence, 362; Garda, 310. |
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