Health Service (Amendment) Regulations, 2024 (No. 1)

The Health Service Commission, with the concurrence of the Ministers of Finance and of Health and Child Care, has amended the Health Service Regulations, 2006 with effect from 1 January 2025.

Section 17 is replaced. A member appointed on pensionable terms now has a pensionable age of 70. A member appointed before the effective date has a pensionable age of 65, unless they elect to retire at 70 — and any retirement before that elected age counts as early retirement.

The Paymaster must, on 1 June each year, give the head of the ministry or department a list of members who will turn 65 and 70 during the coming year, so that succession and pension processing can be planned.

Where it is in the interest of the health service, the Commission may permit a member whose pensionable age is 65 to keep serving beyond 65, for periods it determines, up to the age of 70.

Section 18 is amended so that a member may, on three months' notice, be permitted to retire early any time after turning 60, and the Commission may require a member to retire on or after they turn 60, giving the notice period that applies to resignation under section 15(2).

For a health service under severe staffing pressure, the practical effect is to keep experienced doctors, nurses and administrators in post for longer while leaving a route out from 60.