The current Garda age limit of 35 for new job applicants is discriminatory on the grounds of age, the Labour Court has ruled.
The court made the determination after ordering An Garda Síochána to pay €25,400 compensation - or €12,700 each - to unsuccessful job applicants, Ronald Boyle and Brian Fitzpatrick, after finding they were discriminated against on age grounds.
The Labour Court made the ruling despite Garda Commissioner Drew Harris telling the court that the age cap of 35 for new entrants for An Garda Síochána "is essential".
He said Ireland is unique in European policing as it is a unitary police service, which includes responsibility for national security, counter terrorism and major crime investigation.
In his evidence, Commissioner Harris said that members require the stamina to be as alert at the end of the shift as they are at the start of the shift.
He accepted that currently there is no process for requiring gardaí to maintain fitness post attestation.
He said that the financial cost of testing staff post attestation is huge and includes the cost of lost hours, cost of the test, and backfilling of staff. Commissioner Harris stated that the cost of loss of days alone would cost €2.9 million.
He was the main Garda witness over four days of a Labour Court hearing into the two cases.
In the ruling, deputy chairwoman at the Labour Court Louise O'Donnell said the court finds the age limit of 35 "is not appropriate or necessary".
In case of Mr Boyle, which was published yesterday, Ms O'Donnell said An Garda Síochána conceded that Mr Boyle had raised a prima facie case of discrimination on the grounds of age.
She said the court determined that the maximum age of 35 for recruitment to An Garda Síochána as provided for in 1998 Regulations "does not constitute a genuine and occupational requirement".
The court further determined that the maximum age of 35 for recruitment to An Garda Síochána "is not objectively justified".
Ms O'Donnell said the court made this finding having regard to the objective of training garda recruits and the need for a reasonable period of time prior to retirement during which the recruit will be effective in the job.
She said the court found that An Garda Síochána failed to establish a correlation between the requirement of a high fitness level and the requirement to exclusively recruit under the age of 35, and that while the characteristic at issue might be genuine, the Garda has not established that it is a determining occupational requirement.
She also found that there was no evidence before the court to indicate that gardaí of a certain age could not carry out some or all of their duties or that gardaí in an older age cohort had higher levels of absences or injury arising from carrying out their duties.
Mr Boyle applied to join An Garda Síochána in 2005 aged 48 but his application was not processed as he was advised by Public Appointments Service (PAS) that he did not meet the eligibility requirements as the age limit for new entrants is 35. Mr Fitzpatrick was 37 when his job application was not advanced.
Mr Boyle told the Labour Court that he was then and still is physically fit and that one of his jobs is as a swimming instructor.
He said he believes he would have passed the physical fitness requirement and that he was discriminated on the grounds of age contrary to the Employment Equality Act
Mr Boyle stated that it was a lifelong ambition to be a garda and he was aware that he would only get a reduced pension, but that fact did not bother him.
Mr Boyle and Mr Fitzpatrick initiated their cases in 2006/07 for "the distress suffered as a result of this discrimination."
Both are represented by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) and in 2020, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found in their favour ordering compensation of €12,700 in each case.
The rulings by the WRC were appealed by An Garda Síochána and the Minister for Justice to the Labour Court.
Asked to comment on the outcome, a Garda spokesman said: "An Garda Síochána is considering the Labour Court determination on this matter."
Commenting on the "important" ruling, Chief Commissioner of the IHREC Sinéad Gibney stated:
"Brian and Ronald were denied any prospect of providing service to the State as members of An Garda Síochána due to their age and likewise, the State also lost out on the opportunity to avail of their skills and experience, due to arbitrary age limits."
She said: "This ruling sends a clear message to any employer that there is absolutely no place for age discrimination in the workplace in Ireland today. After more than 15 years of fighting for their rights against the discrimination they experienced, I congratulate both men and wish them well in their futures."
The Garda Representative Association (GRA) said while it will have to take time to consider the outcome and its implications, it has welcomed the outcome.
The GRA President Brendan O'Connor said the association "would actually welcome anything that removes any element of discrimination against any individual."
The decision comes amid recruitment concerns - with just 24 trainees graduating last month.
"We are in the midst of what's accepted as a crisis of recruitment and retention," Mr O'Connor said.
"It's time to think outside the box and look and explore other options."
He told RTÉ News that the GRA can't say for definite if the ruling represents a solution but he said, "certainly it would appear to possibly be a scenario where we've got a broader spectrum of people available for selection and appointment to the force."
