MR Charlie McCreevy, Fianna Fail's spokesman on Finance, last night accused the Department of Finance of publishing "untrue and misleading" information on payments to former Government ministers.
He said reports in last Saturday's newspapers, drawn from the 1995 Finance Report, which said he receives a pension of £27,066 are "simply incorrect" as far as they relate to him and many others.
"I do not have any pension arising from my ministerial service. I do not qualify for one as I do not have the required three years' minimum service", he said in his statement.
Mr McCreevy was a minister for Trade and Tourism and for Social Welfare during the Fianna Fail/PD and Fianna Fail/Labour administrations. He lost office at the end of 1994 when Labour formed a coalition with Fine Gael and Democratic Left.
He said in his case the figures relate to severance monies paid in 1995 arising from the fall of the last Government.
He said the severance pay is calculated as 75 per cent of salary for the first six months, 50 per cent of salary for the next 12 months and 25 per cent of salary for the next six months.
"Thus mathematicians will be able to calculate that my severance ceases this December and I'm currently on 25 per cent of former ministerial salary.
Mr McCreevy said the Department of Finance accounts for 1995 apparently make no distinction between pensions of former office holders, such as Mr Jack Lynch, Mr Liam Cosgrave and Mr Charles Haughey, and "mere minions such as myself who are in receipt of these very temporary severance arrangement.
"I would have thought that the meticulous Department of Finance would, at the very least, have differentiated between these categories and supplied separate lists."
He said there was "an ocean of a difference" between a pension which is permanent and has costs into the future, and a decreasing severance arrangement which ceases after two years. There was no connection between the two concepts.
Mr McCreevy said that as someone who had been persistently critical of "the confused and outdated presentation format of the national accounts, I suppose I should not have been surprised.
"If the Department of Finance can get so confused in this relatively simple and straightforward area of public administration I quake at how they hope to handle EMU. May God look down on us!" concluded his statement.