Madam, – I hope the affair of the ministers’ pensions is just the beginning of the end of all political “exceptionalism”, and henceforth those who have the privilege of governing will be governed by the same laws they devise to govern the common people, who have the privilege of paying their uncommonly generous salaries, expenses and pensions. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The furore over the payments to European Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn once again highlights the complete other-worldliness of the Taoiseach Brian Cowen and his view of where his wages are coming from.
I am an owner-manager of a small- to medium-sized enterprise, of which there approximately 270,000 in Ireland, the majority in appalling financial condition. At a recent gathering of my peers I found many of them on the verge of despair. One told me his only hope of getting finance to keep his family business going for another year was to sell his family home. What will he sell the following year? He, like I, did well during the life of the Celtic Tiger, but over the past 18 months or so all reserves have gone. To survive, everything has been cut to the bone.
On the other hand, our Taoiseach, appointing for political reasons Ms Geoghegan-Quinn to be our commissioner in Europe, seemed to be devoid of any sense of the state of the nation’s finances, in that he did not, before appointing her, ask her to agree to forgo her existing entitlements until at least the term of her commission ended.
Last weekend, Mr Cowen commented that it was not for him to ask Ms Geoghegan-Quinn to forgo her entitlements. Well, if it wasn’t for him to do so, could he perhaps indicate whose job he thought it was? Then, having named that person, could he hand over his seal of office to him or her and go before it is too late? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – While Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan’s assertion that scrapping pension payments to former ministers who are serving TDs, Senators or MEPs would not be permissible under the Constitution (Home News, April 27th) might be legally correct, it does not tell the full moral tale, and it lets politicians too easily off the hook.
If memory serves, while I was working on the superannuation schemes of ministers, Oireachtas members and civil servants in the Department of Finance some moons ago, there was a provision (possibly in the 1956 Civil Service Regulations Act) whereby a retired civil servant in receipt of a pension who was subsequently re-employed in the public service had their pension or part thereof prorogued for the duration.
It would be a relatively simple matter for the Minister – possibly by means of a statutory instrument – to extend this provision to politicians, supposedly also public servants. Thereby, no politician in receipt of a public representative’s salary would be entitled to draw a contemporaneous Exchequer-funded pension as if retired from public life. Where there is a political will, there is certainly a way. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Brian Cowen suggested Máire Geoghegan-Quinn’s surrender of her pension would make no substantive difference. I appreciate Mr Cowen’s direction on this important issue and I will write to Revenue as soon as practical to ask to be excused from paying any income tax for the next five years. My income tax contribution would not come close to Ms Geoghegan-Quinn’s pension, but can I now reasonably assume that my contribution is irrelevant?
In a sense, Mr Cowen is correct: this gesture alone may not make any substantive difference, but this should be about solidarity and leadership. The Taoiseach has exposed his abject lack of understanding of the real financial pain being experienced by so many people and worse, his contemptuous sense of entitlement to the perks of the political elite.
However, Ms Geoghegan-Quinn’s gesture, while tardy, may lead to more solidarity. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Brian Cowen’s position that the relinquishing of State pensions by Máire Geoghegan-Quinn was a personal matter for her, demonstrates the style of leadership that has the country in its current predicament.
Mr Cowen could say that if Richie Boucher relinquished his entitlement to the €1.5 million pension top-up “it would help in public perception terms”, yet he found himself unable to make such a call on Ms Geoghegan-Quinn. Nor has any call yet been made by Mr Cowen on others serving in the Oireachtas who are in receipt of ministerial pensions or who are on leave of absence from teaching and public service jobs.
When will our politicians begin to demonstrate leadership in such matters? If legislation does not currently allow action to be taken, then they should change the legislation. That is what the Oireachtas is there to do. If exiting TDs do not agree to relinquish their pensions and teaching posts, then do not select them to stand for the party in the next election.
There are many things that can be done which would improve the “public perception”. Either it is the “will to lead” or the “ability to lead” that is missing. Mr Cowen has it in his own hands to show the Irish public which is the case. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I refer to the recent media witch-hunt forcing European Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn to gift her ministerial pension to the State.
The Collins English Dictionary defines a pension as inter alia “a regular payment in consideration of past service”.
In addition, the Minister for Finance has confirmed that he has taken legal advice from the Attorney General and the Government cannot strip someone of its pension that they have earned.
The two operative terms here are “past service” and “earned”. The relentless media witch-hunt we have experienced in the past week relating to Ms Quinn should send a very strong message to retired public servants in that if they are requested, by the Government, to accept a post-retirement role they will lose their pension earned for past service by virtue of media pressure. – Yours, etc,