Noel Treacy remains the only Galway TD who has so far refused to give up his ministerial pension, despite public anger over TDs receiving such paymone of ents while still serving in the Dáil.
The Fianna Fáil Galway East TD, who served in a variety of posts as a junior minister from 1988 to 2007 is understood to be in receipt of a pension of €24,007 on top of his Dáil salary. At time of going to press last night, Dep Treacy was the only Galway TD and one of only seven Fianna Fáil TDs who are refusing to following the example of their Dáil colleagues and forgo the payments.
TDs are legally entitled to receive a pension after they have left a ministry, regardless of whether they remain a sitting TD or not. However this situation was increasingly seen as wrong, inappropriate, and disgusting in light of the current economic climate.
The sight of sitting TDs receiving a pension on top of their salary before they retire was deemed no longer acceptable by a public that must wait until it is 68 before it can receive a full pension. It was also seen as very wrong given that the public is enduring wage cuts, tax hikes, loss of hours, and unemployment, while TDs continue to enjoy such generous perks.
Former Galway West TD Maire Geoghegan-Quinn was the first to have to surrender her lavish bonuses. She was receiving €108,000 in Dáil and ministerial pension, as well as her €243,000 EU Commissioner’s salary.
However following pressure from her former party colleagues she agreed to stop receiving the pension. Public and media attention then rightly turned on the Dáil itself. Many felt it was “a bit rich” to see TDs complaining about Ms Geoghegan-Quinn when many of them were also in receipt of pensions, despite not having retired from politics.
Alongside Dep Treacy, the other Galway TDs who are former ministers are Fianna Fáil Galway West TD Frank Fahey, Minister for the Marine from 2000 to 2002 who has served in a variety of posts as a Junior Minister; Fine Gael Galway East TD Paul Connaughton, the Junior Minister for Land Structure and Development from 1982 to 1987; Labour Galway West TD Michael D Higgins, the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Culture, and the Gaeltacht from 1994 to 1997. This week the three TDs agreed to forgo their pensions.
Dep Connaughton, who is understood to receive a pension of €16,092, said on Tuesday that he and the Fine Gael party will be giving up their pensions.
“Fine Gael will be proposing legislation to the immediate effect that all ministerial pensions for serving TDs cease to be paid,” he told the Galway Advertiser. “If we do not get support for that we will call on TDs to voluntarily give them up. I will be writing to Brian Lenihan to inform him of my decision to forgo the pension.”
Dep Fahey, who is understood to receive a pension of €37,205, has also agreed to forgo his payments.
“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,” he said. “I will be writing to The Minister for Finance to inform him of my decision.”
Dep Higgins is understood to recieve a ministerial pension of €17,738. He has agree to forgo it but is on record as stating that he has donated it to charity.
Green senator Niall Ó Brolcháin has welcomed the moves by the TDs.
“It is not appropriate that serving ministers or TDs should be getting large pensions while they are still working for the State or the EU,” he said. “It is the right decision, certainly in the current economic times and they have acted wisely.”
