Ex-taoiseach Bertie Ahern to forgo ministerial pension

Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern said this evening he will forgo his  pension of €83,000 while he continues to serve in the Dáil.

His Fianna Fáil colleague Frank Fahey said earlier he too was waiving his entitlements.

Their announcement came hours after Fine Gael and Labour said all their  serving TDs with ministerial pensions were relinquishing theirs.

Pressure is now growing on the remaining Fianna Fáil TDs, Senators and MEPs who are still in receipt of the payments.

Fine Gael  today published the amendment to the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act, 2009 which would removing with immediate effect ministerial pensions from all sitting Oireachtas members if adopted by the Dáil.  The Labour Party is also in the process of drafting a similar Bill.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said if the Government did not move to adopt his party's amendment, he would force a vote in the Dáil on the issue. He said all Fine Gael ministerial pension holders have voluntarily agreed to give up their pension either to the Exchequer or to Irish charities. “Fine Gael is seeking advice on how Irish charities can maximise the benefit of these contributions,” he said.

This afternoon, a spokesman for Mr Ahern defended the former taoiseach's pension entitlements. He said a report of the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector in September 2007 recommended that the salary of Taoiseach be increased by 14 per cent from €271,882 to €310,000. Mr Ahern did not accept the increase and later retired on a pension of €111,235 instead of €134,137.

The spokesman said Mr Ahern's pension is currently €83,426.40, including a reduction of 25 per cent which is applied to sitting members of the Dáil. The pension is worth about €43,000 after tax.

The last three Labour TDs who were still in receipt of the payments – Ruairí Quinn, Emmet Stagg and Brian O’Shea – confirmed this morning they were waiving their entitlements.

In a statement, Mr Quinn said Ireland's economy has deteriorated since his pension was last reviewed. "In these circumstances I have decided to forego the pension which I currently receive while I continue to work as a member of Dáil Éireann," the Dublin South East TD said. Mr Quinn received a parliamentary pension of €41,656 in 2009.

Mr Stagg, a TD for North Kildare, said this morning he understood the public's anger at former ministers receiving pensions while still working. Mr Stagg served as minister for state at the Department of Transport in the Rainbow Coalition in 1995. According to provisional unaudited figures supplied to The Irish Times, he received a pension of €7,716 in 2009.

Labour TD for Waterford Brian O’Shea also said he was giving up his pension entitlements. Mr O’Shea, who served as minister of state at the Department of Health in 1994 to 1997, received a pension of €7,716 in 2009.

Fianna Fáil TD Frank Fahey said he would voluntarily forgo 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 Eireann,” he said. “I will be writing to the Minister for Finance to inform him of my decision.”

European commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn agreed last night to forgo her pension entitlements after calls from a number of Government Ministers for her to review her stance on the issue.

PARLIAMENTARY PENSIONS FOR 2009

Parliamentarians who have forgone ministerial pensions, (provisional 2009 figures which have yet to be audited):

Bernard Allen (FG): €5,485

Jimmy Deenihan (FG): €1,655

Enda Kenny (FG): €9,113

Gay Mitchell MEP (FG): €2,837

Seán Barrett (FG): €28,667

Richard Bruton (FG): €13,242

Paul Connaughton (FG): €16,092

Bernard Durkan (FG): €5,483

Jim Higgins MEP (FG): €5,952

Michael Noonan (FG): €39,944

Jim O'Keeffe (FG): €17,770

Brian O'Shea (Lab): €7,716

Ruairí Quinn (Lab): €41,656

Emmet Stagg (Lab): €7,716

Joan Burton (Lab): €1,664

Eamon Gilmore (Lab): €1,181

Michael D Higgins (Lab): €17,738

Liz McManus (Lab): €2,128

Proinsias De Rossa MEP (Lab): €4,890

Pat Rabbitte (Lab): €4,255

Bertie Ahern (FF): €98,901

Frank Fahey (FF): €37,205

Mary O'Rourke (FF): €28,341

Michael Woods (FF) €33,343*

Ruairí O'Hanlon (FF): €82,355

*forwent half pension entitlement

Parliamentarians and former ministers still receiving ministerial pensions (provisional 2009 figures which have yet to be audited):

Liam Aylward MEP (FF): €12,261

Sen Ivor Callely (FF): €6,637

Pat 'the Cope' Gallagher MEP (FF): €23,634

Sen Terry Leyden (FF): €21,761

Jim McDaid (FF): €22,487

Ned O'Keeffe (FF): €6,810

Noel Treacy (FF): €24,007

Former Fianna Fáil ministers who have received severance payments but to whom payments of pensions have not yet started:

Tom Kitt, Michael Ahern, John Browne, John McGuinness, Maire Hoctor, Mary Wallace, Jimmy Devins, Michael Kitt, John O'Donoghue and Willie O'Dea.

- LIST COMPILED BY HARRY MCGEE