Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On the same issue, we know that the average public sector worker has a pension of €30,000 or less. We also know that a specific group of people in the system are over-pensioned and receive excessive gratuities when they leave the public service. As the Minister acknowledged, we last discussed this matter in 2012, when 84 pensions in excess of €100,000 were being paid. Since raising this matter with the Minister, I and others have engaged in some toing and froing with him on the issue, during which he has cited property rights and constitutional considerations. Like Deputy Sean Fleming, I expect the Minister to produce figures when he comes before the select sub-committee seeking additional money. Not only should he have broken down the subhead by providing information on lump sums, he should also have provided detail on the 1,100 persons who retired, including information on grades, the lump sums to which they were entitled and the level of their pension payments. One would expect this to be a matter of course when the Minister comes before us seeking additional moneys. Do any of the officials have the relevant information and, if so, will they provide it to members now? Such information should be provided when the issue is under discussion.