Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I have studied the answer in detail. On the issue of constitutionality, there are two categories. There is a category of people which includes former Taoisigh, Ministers and so on who are associated with the bankruptcy of the country and who have walked away with large amounts of money. It infuriates people that they can be penalised for what they see as the crimes of others, while those who were at the helm walk away, effectively, scot-free. They would like the Government to re-examine what can be done and whether measures can be taken. They are outraged by this when they cannot make ends meet and have been hit with emergency measures, the imposition of water charges and all the rest. I sat through a committee meeting with the Minister at which we discussed fast accruals, firemen and gardaí. However, when we discuss Ministers, we find that the level of fast accrual is a multiple of what a fireman or garda receives. I understand that for a Deputy there is a fast accrual level of 20 years, but for a Minister it is two years, which is extraordinary and not comparable with the level for a fireman, a garda or a soldier. How can this be justified? They will also receive fairly generous pension entitlements as Deputies, having been remunerated very well as Ministers and so on. After two years they walk away with €18,000 or €20,000. Others say, "We will never get that; we might not get it as our entire pension entitlement at the end of our lives."

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