OPINION:Cowen has given the impression of being non-committal, vague and conservative on the ministerial pension issue, writes HARRY McGEE
MÁIRE GEOGHEGAN-QUINN’S dramatic decision to forgo her Dáil and ministerial pensions had an immediate chilling effect on former ministers retaining their pensions while serving as TDs, Senators and MEPs.
Within a few hours of her announcement on Monday night, the Labour whip Emmet Stagg announced he was giving up his pension. Yesterday morning the floodgates opened.
The two remaining Labour Party TDs in receipt of a pension – Ruairí Quinn (whose provisional pension for 2009 would have been €41,656) and Brian O’Shea – announced in quick succession that they were giving them up.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny also moved quickly. After his front bench meeting he summoned his own former ministers together and essentially demanded of them that they must “volunteer” their pensions. Oxymoronic as it was, it worked. Seven of the party’s TDs and its MEP Jim Higgins gave up their ministerial pensions. The group included the deputy leader Richard Bruton, whose 2009 pension was provisionally set at €13,242.
During Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil yesterday Kenny said the reason the Government had refused to strip former ministers of their pensions last year was because of opposition from a very senior figure in the party. It was a thinly disguised reference to former taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
But by that stage the domino effect had spread to Fianna Fáil as, individually, former ministers announced they were “gifting” their pensions to the State.
Frank Fahey was first out of the traps yesterday morning when he announced he was handing back his pension, stated as €37,205 for 2009.
And then in later afternoon Ahern announced that he would forgo his considerable pension of €83,000 until he retired from the Dáil. The former ceann comhairle Rory O’Hanlon, who receives €42,000 this year, followed suit soon afterwards.
There was a growing consensus that the remaining five Fianna Fáil politicians – Jim McDaid, Noel Treacy, MEPs Liam Aylward and Pat “the Cope” Gallagher and Senator Terry Leyden – would also bow to the inevitable and forgo their pensions.
But there were indications last night that a few of them were holding out. That reflects a refusal to learn from lessons of the recent past.
It also shows that the refuseniks have shown a tin ear to the febrile anti-politics sentiment that is widespread among the public.
Politically, for them to continue to hold on to their pensions is as realistic as Canute telling the waves not to budge, lads.
It is a practical demonstration of American political strategist Karl Rove’s aphorism: “When you are explaining, you are losing.”
Geoghegan-Quinn and the others who followed knew that if they hadn’t taken peremptory action that they would have found themselves in similar situations to John O’Donoghue and Willie O’Dea, both of whom tried to tough it out but really only prolonged the agony of their inevitable demises.
For a week now Taoiseach Brian Cowen has cleaved to one mantra when dealing with pension controversies surrounding Bank of Ireland chief executive Richie Boucher, Geoghegan-Quinn and his own Fianna Fáil deputies. His default explanation: it’s a matter for the individual.
His refusal to voice a public – or personal – opinion has put him at odds with some of his more senior Ministers who have directly criticised the practice whereby serving politicians and office-holders are also in receipt of ministerial pensions.
Those close to the Taoiseach insist that his non-committal public pronouncements on pensions are in marked contrast to his more truculent interventions behind the scenes.
There is no doubt that he and Geoghegan-Quinn were in contact before she decided to relinquish her pension of €108,000, and that there were behind-the-scenes moves in relation to Boucher’s position.
That said, no matter what sway he had over her or Boucher’s decisions, the communications aspect of the strategy has been a disaster.
Cowen has given the impression of being non-committal, vague, over-cautious and conservative on the issue: and that has put him deeply at variance with public sentiment on the matter.
It would not have been difficult for Cowen to say that he believed, personally, that it would be appropriate for Ministers to do it, as Micheál Martin did with some effect. But there was something – was it caution or obstinacy or deference to the protocols of his office? – that prevented him from doing so.
The initiative to cut ministerial pensions for serving Oireachtas members first cropped up in the emergency budget last year when Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan said the allowances would be “discontinued”.
However, within hours of the announcement it had encountered resistance, both political and legal. The measure, included in haste, was then referred to the Attorney General. His advice was that those affected could claim a form of property right and they had a legitimate expectation in relation to it. He said that a referendum might be needed to give it effect.
The Government then wrote to all 28 Oireachtas members in this category to canvass their views. While the correspondence was never released, there were indications that three senior Fianna Fáil figures as well as a number of Opposition TDs opposed the measure.
In the event, the Government decided on a compromise – a cut of 25 per cent in the overall pension.
Strangely, the main Opposition parties never made a political song and dance about it. That was because, embarrassingly for them, some of their TDs were also in the ex-ministerial group. Both got separate legal advice indicating that the matter did not touch on the Constitution and a referendum was not necessary. Some 11 of the 28 indicated that they had given up their pensions voluntarily.
And there the matter rested until the EU commissioner’s unfortunate “no comment” comment last week. It shows how quickly the political atmosphere has changed within the past year that both parties moved so quickly on the matter once the controversy reignited.
Interestingly, Fine Gael published its own Bill to amend pension allowances which will form part of a Private Members’ motion it will table for the Dáil next week.
Political focus will quickly turn to Fianna Fáil and the Green Party. Greens leader John Gormley was quick to call on Opposition TDs to give up their pensions this week. Now that the Opposition had done just that, there will be pressure on him to demand the same of his Government colleagues.