European Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn has asked for her Dáil and ministerial pensions be “gifted to the State” for the duration of her service as a commissioner.
A statement released on behalf of the Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan tonight said Ms Geoghegan-Quinn had contacted the Minister to ask that “the necessary arrangements be put in place to allow her to gift to the State her current ministerial and Oireachtas pension”.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen welcomed the decision.
He said: “I've stated repeatedly that it was up to people not serving in the Oireachtas to reflect and consider their own positions individually as to how to deal with the pension issue.”
“Maire Geoghegan-Quinn has now done that and I want to acknowledge the gesture that she has made in solidarity with the situation here at home in Ireland.”
Pressure had been mounting on the Commissioner to forgo her Dáil and ministerial pensions with at least six Government Ministers publicly calling on her to do so.
The move means Ms Geoghegan-Quinn will now forego the payments, which include a TD’s pension of €44,381 and a ministerial package totalling about €64,000. She is paid an annual salary of €238,918 in her current post, having secured the research, innovation and science portfolio last November. She is not in receipt of a pension from her previous role with the European Court of Auditors in Luxembourg.
Previously Mr Lenihan said the Government had no power to strip a person of the pension they had earned.
He said the former minister for justice earned her pension under the terms of legislation that applied to her at the time. "Many of the newer entrants into public life cannot earn a pension of this type and wouldn't earn a pension until they are 65 years of age, because the terms have been changed," he said.
Mr Lenihan added that the terms were not changed for her: "She entered public life in this country in 1975 ... there are many people who get double pension payments from the Irish State at every level".
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, the Minister said he had taken legal advice on the issue from the Attorney General and the Government cannot strip someone of their pension that they have earned. "That's not allowed in our legislation - legally, you can't do it. If that's the position, there is nothing that parliament can do short of a referendum on Máire Geoghegan-Quinn's pension."
Mr Lenihan said this was a matter for individuals to consider their own circumstances. "It's open to anyone to make a contribution from their pension to the Minister for Finance - many have, and I want to acknowledge that, and many can reflect on the difficult economic circumstances Ireland is in and decide to assist voluntarily."
He said "definite pension proposals" were being brought forward by Government this year.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley said today the Commissioner should "do the right thing" and forgo the money. He said she was sending out a bad example when the Government was trying to get the Croke Park deal through.
Speaking in Cork today, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said Ms Geoghegan-Quinn should reflect on her pension because it represents a practice from a different era. “She is not doing anything different to people who were in similar situations in the past. But we are in a different situation and in my view people in such situations should reflect on that because of the climate we are in. It is imperative that we show leadership in that regard.”
Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan did not directly call on the Commissioner to hand back her pension. However, he said that is what he would do if he was in her position. “I think everyone has to decide for themselves,” he said. “But I think we in politics have to show real leadership and recognise we are in a difficult financial situation and set an example. I hope all people in politics in our party and in other parties do that”.
Green Party Senator Dan Boyle also said the commissioner should give back the pension. “If it isn’t done by means of persuasion, it should be considered by way of legislation,” he said.
However, Minister for Enterprise Batt O’Keeffe, said the pension is a matter for Ms Geoghegan-Quinn and it was not up to him to direct her on how to act in any given situation.
Yesterday, Minister for Social Protection Éamon Ó Cuív, a former Fianna Fáil colleague in the Galway West constituency, said Ms Geoghegan-Quinn should “show leadership” on the issue. Government Ministers had taken a pay cut, he said.
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said that people who continued to be in public life had to accept that there had to be sacrifices in the area of pensions. “That is why the Government, on the advice of the Attorney General, reduced as much as we could the pensions of existing Oireachtas members right across all political parties,” he added.
“The Attorney General advised that people had property rights and we would not be able to go any further. So, ultimately, it is a matter for each individual, but I would think that somebody who continues in public life should make a sacrifice, as have a number of existing TDs already.” Mr Ahern said that, however, some TDs had not done this.
Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport Mary Hanafin said that Ms Geoghegan-Quinn was not being paid by Ireland in her EU job. “Insofar as she is a representative nominated by Ireland in Europe, where she is earning a quarter-million euro, if she felt that she could do without it, it would be a good gesture,” Ms Hanafin added.