Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

All the levies the Deputy mentioned also fall on Members of the Oireachtas. We are not immune from any of these measures. Fast-accrual pensions apply to certain categories of person. Whereas a civil servant may be employed in the Civil Service for 40 years, a Taoiseach or garda will not be in his or her role for 40 years. Taoisigh and gardaí have fast-accrual pensions because it is understood they will not be in the same position for a long period. Fast-accrual pensions are occupation-specific.

The Government has taken dramatic measures to reduce salaries. The first action taken by the Taoiseach on taking office was to impose a cap of €200,000 on his salary. This cap obviously has an impact on his pension, and his salary has been further reduced since. These reductions have filtered down to all officeholders.

There is public annoyance that people who were charged with oversight walked away from politics and public administration after the debacle of the crisis.

People believe they did not take a proportionate hit for the crisis that had happened. That is a concern for them, but we can only go so far within the Constitution. We have introduced a pension abatement figure of 20% for those on the highest pensions, which is as far I was advised I could go legally.

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