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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.
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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