Politicians criticise pressure over pensions

THE “CRUSADE” that has forced politicians to surrender their ministerial pensions had been criticised as being a witch-hunt and as anti-democratic by a number of TDs and Senators.

Senator Joe O’Toole said yesterday that the debate surrounding ministerial pensions was unintelligent and lacked rigour.

He said his concern was not with the voluntary decisions of politicians to forgo entitlements but with the Minister for Finance’s new legislation on ministerial pensions which comes into place after the next general election. Under that legislation, former ministers will not be entitled to receive a pension until they reach 65.

Mr O’Toole said it would discourage people entering politics and he also wondered if it would extend to other groups in receipt of pensions who have taken on new careers or roles in public life.

Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, Mr O’Toole said that somebody entering politics at 30 would have to put their career on hold and would put family and security at risk. If they lost their seat at 50, he said, they would not be entitled to receive a pension for 15 years.

Mr O’Toole cautioned against the anti-pension sentiment being extended to other groups such as retired gardaí and teachers.

Jim McDaid, who has refused to give up his pension for the moment, said yesterday that TDs’ remuneration did not reflect the legislative power they had and he feared the country could be heading in a direction where only wealthy people could afford to get into politics.

“That is not the way to run a democracy and I think it’s going to be democracy that is going to actually suffer in the end as a result of the direction in which we are currently going,” said Dr McDaid on Newstalk. He is a TD for Donegal North East.

Noel Treacy, another former minister who has retained his pension, also warned about the implications for democracy.

“I think it’s a bit ridiculous because if we go the full distance on this then nobody can stand for public life that doesn’t have a pension coming in here,” said Mr Treacy, a TD for Galway East.