Ministerial Pensions in the Dail - What justifies these salaries?

by W. Finnerty Tue Aug 13, 2013 19:17

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FORMER justice minister Michael McDowell has proved that losing your Dail seat can actually help pay the bills.

Mr McDowell used a special Oireachtas law to pick up two separate "golden parachute" payments after failing to win back his seat in two general elections.

The Irish Independent has learnt he received a €21,089 tax-free lump sum when he was ousted in the 1997 election, and a €57,848 tax-free lump sum when he suffered electoral defeat again in 2007 -- giving him a taxpayer-funded windfall of €78,937

Nice wages if you can get them but it goes on.

And in addition to the two lump sums, he also received a severance payment from the Department of Finance. After his 2007 defeat, he picked up this payment, worth €49,657, as a result of his service as an attorney general and a minister.

The revelations come in the midst of controversy over politicians' pension entitlements.

The former leader of the Progressive Democrats works as a senior counsel in the Bar Counsel of Ireland.

Barristers in this position can command a brief fee, which is a payment for taking on a case, of anything up to €150,000 and a daily rate of €3,000 (mostly for doing "corruption and crime supporting" legal work on behalf of the present Republic of Ireland Government I suspect?).

Mr McDowell is also receiving a double pension -- a €31,653 Oireachtas pension and a €31,435 ministerial pension. http://www.independent.ie/national-news/mcdowell-got-mu....html

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The slightly edited text in the section just above is from:
http://www.politicalworld.org/archive/index.php/t-1879.html
(Published: 20-05-2010)

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Related Letter (dated November 7th 2005):
(The contents of which UNCONVICTED GOVERNMENT CRIMINAL Michael McDowell COMPLETELY IGNORED for all practical purposes)
http://www.constitutionofireland.com/GerardMadden7Novem...r.htm

Related Link:
"Former Justice Minister Michael McDowell, government corruption, crime, cover ups, impunity, unconstitutional legislation, William Finnerty ..."
http://tinyurl.com/lv3ovz8

by gary Tue Aug 13, 2013 12:59

Those in office who have acted dishonestly in the interests of fraud,should have their pensions revoked.

This could save on some public money too,a 100k+ pension a year saving is not to be sniffed at or overlooked.

If we were to tot up all the minister pensions it would amount to over a billion,this is something that needs cutting and tweaking,we need to seriously look at this.

Two years in offices should not entitle anybody to an over proportionate pension.These conditions for a pension are ridiculous and it is bound to be abused.

by ciara Tue Aug 13, 2013 11:23

I remember the fas scandal and her 100 dollar a day hair dressing habit while she was staying in a hotel in florida,if i remember correctly her whole trip,(with her spouse) cost about 80,000 euro altogther.I kid you not.

According to wikipedia Harney retired with a package worth more than €300,000 and is entitled to an annual pension of over €120,000. She receives an annual ministerial pension of over €70,000 and a TDs pension of €50,600. She also received a pension lump sum of €160,000, a termination lump sum of about €17,000 and monthly termination payments from the Oireachtas during her first 12 months of retirement worth another €66,900

This is obviously an obscene amount of money for someone who wrecked our health system,and it is still suffering i might add,under minister james o reilly.

Both ministers to say the least are not exactly the picture of health.

My point is that no minister should be receiving such payouts,and the conditions under which they recieve them is wafer thin,all one needs to do is work 2 years in the dail and they can apply for a pension,its unbelieveable.

Some people have worked over thirty years in a company and have not received such a pension to such a level.

I personally know people who have got their working pensions cut,and state pensions,yet these people go untouched!

by fred Mon Aug 12, 2013 23:41

don't forget corrupt politican Ray Burke who had closed doors talks with Shell, eviscerated our terms for oil exploration, and took payments of 30,000+

This welfare scrounger traitor and known crook still trousers 100k+ pension p.a. from the taxpayer. Lunacy!

Our government is always happy to cut honest ordinary pensioners netting a meagre amount having contributed to society for their whole lives, or ordinary welfare recipients living on the breadline, but crooks and traitors like Ray Burke (or ahern who also cut terms for oil companies in half and was recently involved in the attempted sell off our forests) are apparently off limits

A neo liberal Ideology of disdain for the poor and snivelling sycophancy towards the rich runs through the veins of our government and those in Europe

BTW, I thought Ex PD neo con Mary Harney, who masterminded the destruction and ultimately the privatisation of our health service here, was rewarded with a total pension closer to 300k p.a.