PARLIAMENTARY PENSIONS:BERTIE AHERN volunteered to give up the €83,000 pension he receives as former taoiseach after a day in which the Government came under sustained pressure from the Opposition over the payment of ministerial pensions to serving politicians.
Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore announced at noon that he intended to bring forward a Private Members’ Bill to end the practice of paying ministerial pensions to sitting TDs and Senators.
“Our legal advice is that there is not a constitutional impediment,” said Mr Gilmore, contradicting the Government’s position that pensions for serving TDs could not be abolished for legal and constitutional reasons. In tandem with Mr Gilmore’s announcement, former Labour Party leader Ruairí Quinn announced that he was giving up the €41,656 pension he is paid as a former minister.
“I have reviewed the position of my ministerial pension. Since the original reductions were made, the economic conditions of the country have not improved. In particular, the public finances are in a very poor state. This is causing considerable hardship to many people across the country.
“In these circumstances I have decided to forgo the pension which I currently receive while I continue to work as a member of Dáil Éireann. Accordingly, I have written to the Minister of Finance to inform him of this decision. I have asked him to request his department to take the necessary steps to implement this decision as soon as possible,” said Mr Quinn.
Earlier, Labour Kildare TD Emmet Stagg had announced that he was giving up his €7,716 pension, while in the afternoon the party’s Waterford TD Brian O’Shea gave back his ministerial pension of the same amount.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny also took a decisive stand on the issue yesterday morning. At his party’s weekly frontbench meeting he got approval to bring forward a Bill to remove ministerial pensions from sitting TDs.
Mr Kenny then met all of the Fine Gael TDs in receipt of ministerial pensions, advised them of the frontbench decision and suggested they give up their pensions. There was agreement that the pensions should be either gifted back to the State or given to charity.
The TDs who gave up their pensions were Michael Noonan, €39,944; Seán Barrett, €28,667; Jim O’Keeffe, €17,770; Richard Bruton, €13,242; Paul Connaughton, €16,092; Bernard Allen, €5,485; and Bernard Durkan, €5,483. Ireland West MEP Jim Higgins also agreed to give up his pension of €5,952.
In a statement later Mr Kenny, who gave up his own pension last year, said that he had written to Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan at the time and argued for the immediate removal of these pensions for sitting Oireachtas members.
“I argued that it should have been done across the board to remove any ambiguity or doubt on the issue. However, the Government refused to act on this proposal and only committed to removing such pensions from the beginning of the next Dáil.”
Mr Kenny said he had published an amendment to the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act of 2009 to remove pensions for sitting members with immediate effect.
“If the Government do not accept this Fine Gael amendment, I will force a vote in the Dáil next week to seek support for the content of the Fine Gael proposal. If Fianna Fáil and the Greens vote down this proposal, all Fine Gael ministerial pension holders have voluntarily agreed to give up their pensions either to the exchequer or to Irish charities.”
That was followed by an announcement in the afternoon by former Fianna Fáil minister Frank Fahey that he was giving up his pension of €37,205.
“Having reviewed the position of my ministerial pension, and giving consideration to the current state of the public finances, I have decided to voluntarily forgo my ministerial pension until I retire from Dáil Éireann. I will be writing to the Minister for Finance to inform him of my decision,” said Mr Fahey in a statement.
Shortly afterwards, Mr Kenny raised the issue in the Dáil with Taoiseach Brian Cowen and called on him to tell his TDs in receipt of pensions to give them up. Mr Cowen repeated that the legal advice from the Attorney General was that Oireachtas members could not be obliged to give up their ministerial pensions – but he pointed out that they would be abolished for members of the next Dáil and Seanad.
Shortly after the Dáil exchanges, the Department of Finance disclosed Mr Ahern had sent a letter giving up his pension.
Former ceann comhairle Rory O’Hanlon then announced that he was giving up his pension of €82,355 and last night Cork TD Ned O’Keeffe joined the list by giving up his €6,810 pension.
Last night, however, Mr Kenny attacked Mr Cowen for his handling of the pension controversy saying that he had abdicated all responsibility on the matter.
“Rather than deal with the issue head on, he hid behind threadbare legal arguments and refused to speak directly to his Fianna Fáil colleagues and ask them to give up the pension payment,” he said.
The most recent to give up their pensions
BERTIE AHERN (FF)
PENSION:€83,426
DÁIL SALARY:€98,424
Unlike other former ministers, a former taoiseach does not have to forgo 50 per cent of his salary while still serving as a TD.
RORY O'HANLON (FF)
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€43,000
DÁIL SALARY:€98,424
His payment of €83,000 for 2009 reflected arrears from last year.
RUAIRI QUINN (Lab)
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€41,656
DÁIL SALARY:€98,424
BERNARD ALLEN (FG):
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€5,485
DÁIL SALARY:€98,424
SEAN BARRETT (FG):
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€28,667
DÁIL SALARY:€98,424
RICHARD BRUTON (FG)
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€13,242
DÁIL SALARY:€98,424
SEN IVOR CALLELY (FF)
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€6,637
SEANAD SALARY: €69,647.00
PAUL CONNAUGHTON (FG)
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€16,092
DÁIL SALARY:€98,424
BERNARD DURKAN (FG)
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€5,483
DÁIL SALARY:€98,424
FRANK FAHEY (FF)
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€37,205 (2009 figures)
DÁIL SALARY:€98,424
JIM HIGGINS MEP (FG)
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€5,952
MEP'S SALARY:€91,984.
OIREACHTAS PENSION:€53,780
He has retained his Oireachtas pension
MICHAEL NOONAN (FG)
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€39,944
DAIL SALARY:€98,424.00
NED O'KEEFFE (FF)
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€6,810
DÁIL SALARY:€98,424.00
JIM O'KEEFFE (FG)
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€17,770
DÁIL SALARY:€98,424.00
BRIAN O'SHEA (Lab)
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€7,716
DÁIL SALARY:€98,424.00
EMMET STAGG (Lab)
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€7,716.
DÁIL SALARY:€98,424.00
And those who have yet to do so
LIAM AYLWARD MEP (FF)
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€12,261
MEPs SALARY:€91,984.
OIREACHTAS PENSION:€52,213
Was not contactable last night.
JIM MCDAID (FF)
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€22,487
DAIL SALARY:€98,424.00
Not a member of the FF parliamentary party. Has not said publicly that he is willing to give up his pension.
NOEL TREACY (FF)
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€24,007
DÁIL SALARY:€98,424.00
Not available for comment yesterday.
PAT THE COPE GALLAGHER
MEP
(FF)
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€23,634
MEP's SALARY:€91,984.
OIREACHTAS PENSION:not publicly released yet but in excess of €40,000.
Mr Gallagher said last night he was not going to make a "kneejerk decision".
SEN TERRY LEYDEN (FF)
MINISTERIAL PENSION:€21,761
SEANAD SALARY:€69,647.00
Was not contactable last night.