Should Superintendent Jim Fitzgerald be entitled to a full pension

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ · 02-04-2007 02:58PM

stovelid wrote:

I think guards should be allowed to keep their pension unless they have blatantly abused their position

am i missing something here,
Superintendent of the Traffic Corp caught driving and police vechile while drunk.
how more could he of abused his power in the traffic corp... by killing somebody while driving the police car drunk...
come on like, lets get real here.

hermit · 02-04-2007 02:59PM

The fact that he broke the law has nothing to do with his pension - as a public servant he would have been paying a superannuation charge each week and will therefore be entitled to his pension - why shouldn't he get one?

The other thing of course is that if he does not get his Garda pension he will be entitled to a state pension at the age of 66 - albeit it wouldn't be as much as his Garda one.

hermit · 02-04-2007 03:01PM

In fairness - we don't know that was "Drunk" - if I drink 3 pints I'm far from drunk but I would still fail a breathalyser (SP) test!!!

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ · 02-04-2007 03:01PM

hermit wrote:

The fact that he broke the law has nothing to do with his pension

I have been informed by a member of the force that as a guard it does, its in their employment agreement.

again, again and again.....that is why he is retiring before the disciplinary action... because it will affect the pension

thats my point,

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ · 02-04-2007 03:18PM

hermit wrote:

In fairness - we don't know that was "Drunk"

OH MY FCUKING GOD...

that is it end of discussion for me. This post proves all that is wrong with the force today....and proves the mentality of the few on here who defend the guards to the hilt every time they fcuk up... no matter what,

Thank you hermit for proving a point to me that i suspected for years, i never thought somebody would put it so blatantly down in writing for me.

kraggy · 02-04-2007 03:30PM

No point in asking peoples' views and then giving them rolleyes when they make a valid point.

humanji · 02-04-2007 03:31PM

Abd what does it say about you and your crusade against "The Man"? What does it say about your mentality that you have to continuously attack the gardai and anyone who questions your rants?

kraggy · 02-04-2007 03:42PM

OP what age are you because your debate skills are that of a 12 year child.

Go and sulk and don't bother asking for a debate on an issue again when you aren't prepared to listen to other peoples' opinions.

stovelid · 02-04-2007 04:53PM

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

am i missing something here,
Superintendent of the Traffic Corp caught driving and police vechile while drunk.
how more could he of abused his power in the traffic corp... by killing somebody while driving the police car drunk...
come on like, lets get real here.

With all respect \m/_(>_<)_\m , He was not on duty as the Superintendent of the Traffic Corp when he offended. His offence is deeply ironic because of his position but he broke the law as a citizen and is now rightly being subjected to the law. His position has not stopped the process going ahead (yet) so I don't see how he is abusing it. He didn't so much abuse his powers as acted like an idiot and a hypocrite.

Also, as somebody else pointed out, his car means nothing unless it was a squad car or he was using it in a Garda capacity.

I'm far from being a Garda apologist but unless I'm mistaken, Garda being prosecuted like any other citizen for breaking the law = good.

The fact that he is probably a convenient public case to counteract some of the recent negative Garda publicity is another matter.

Oh - and I'm not dodging the issue of his retirement, dude. Its a moot point to me if I think he shouldn't lose his pension in the first place.

lennox1 · 02-04-2007 05:25PM

The super allegedly broke the law and will be treated like any other member of the public,no better,no worse.He can legally retire on full pension as he has served for 30 years and will receive a contributory pension,as is his right.Unless the law is changed so that everyone who is convicted of an offence loses their entitlement to a pension,the super should not be treated differently just because he's a Garda.As for driving a state car while off duty,its no different to a company car being driven out of work hours.Unfortunately there are some people who will never be happy until gardai are hung,drawn and quartered simply because of the job they do.Lets hope that in our own jobs we never,ever make any mistakes of any kind,major or minor.

hermit · 02-04-2007 06:12PM

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

OH MY FCUKING GOD...

that is it end of discussion for me. This post proves all that is wrong with the force today....and proves the mentality of the few on here who defend the guards to the hilt every time they fcuk up... no matter what,

Thank you hermit for proving a point to me that i suspected for years, i never thought somebody would put it so blatantly down in writing for me.

I'm not really sure what your problem is to be honest?? Its one thing to say the man was drink driving (nobody is gonna deny that) but to say he was drunk is completely incorrect (maybe he was/maybe he wasn't but you can't go making wild assumptions either). And going off on one like you did above makes me wonder are you one of these people who hear 10 good things about Gardai, then hear one negative thing and thats it the whole force is in disrepute, corrupt etc... cop on!!! (no pun intended).

PeakOutput · 02-04-2007 06:46PM

ok i clarified this today

if he stayed in the force he would be disciplined(discharged) and would lose his pension

because he is resigning/retiring he will keep his pension because this charge is not serious enough to warrant removing his pension

if it was something else(cant think of anything of the top of my head but say murder) then it is irrelevant about when he leaves dosnt leave he would lose his pension

i have also heard that a number of people are suprised he has lasted this long and couldnt believe when he made superintendant but i cant provide any proof or watever about this so dont quote me on it

Should Superintendent Jim Fitzgerald be entitled to a full pension

Comments