THE SECRETARY general of the Department of Education and Skills will receive an annual pension of €114,000 per year when she retires shortly at the age of 53.
Brigid McManus will retire in mid-February when her seven-year term expires. In accordance with the terms under which secretaries general were appointed, she will receive a full pension of €114,839 per year. She will also receive an after-tax lump-sum payment of €204,000.
Amid controversy about the huge pension benefits flowing to senior civil servants, Ms McManus is voluntarily waiving an additional severance payment of €126,817 provided for in her contract.
The pension tax changes in last year’s budget and her waiver of severance payment means her lump sum is much less than the €500,000 a similar secretary general would have received a couple of years ago.
Last month, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin said he would attempt to abolish severance payments and reduce lump sums and pensions in reforming retirement packages for senior civil servants. But he could not break contracts already in place.
His comments came amid controversy about the “pay-off” awarded to former secretary general to the government Dermot McCarthy. In addition to an annual pension of €142,670, Mr McCarthy was paid a once-off lump sum of €428,011. He was also entitled to another special severance payment of €142,670.
In total, more than 100 retired civil servants are receiving pensions of more than €100,000 per year.
Mr Howlin told the Dáil last September that Mr McCarthy’s severance payment arose from a 1987 civil service agreement aimed at getting younger people into senior positions. It changed the old system from lifetime appointments for secretaries general to seven-year terms of office, after which they would keep the same salary with a similar post or receive a severance payment.
The post of secretary general in the Department of Education and Skills is being advertised this week. It is one of the key posts in Irish education.
Ms McManus is the first female civil servant to occupy the post. A former Department of Finance official, she played a pivotal role in negotiations in Brussels which successfully defended the Republic’s low corporation tax levels.
She is credited with driving several key changes in education, including reforms of the school patronage system and new initiatives on literacy and numeracy.