Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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2. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will set out in monetary terms the income, including pension-related benefits, to be reinstated to current and former Ministers under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill, FEMPI, 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40796/15]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Yesterday, as we debated the FEMPI legislation, I brought forward amendments that would allow the Minister the opportunity to ensure serving and former Ministers would not enjoy a pay or pension bonanza under it and he refused to accept them. My question today is for him to set out in monetary terms the extent of this payback for serving and, most particularly, former Ministers, taoisigh, tánaistí, etc.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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On foot of decisions taken by this Government, serving Ministers, as I indicated clearly yesterday, will not benefit from any pay restoration as set out in the FEMPI Bill 2015.  Former Ministers will benefit only to the extent that all former public servants will benefit in the Government's highly progressive programme of pension restoration. There is no such thing as a bonanza for anybody.

The Haddington Road agreement, HRA, included commitments to restore the pay of serving public servants who took an additional pay cut in 2013. Following negotiation between public service employers, unions and associations, an extension of the HRA, the Lansdowne Road agreement, was negotiated and ratified by the public service unions. The FEMPI Bill includes the necessary legislative provisions to give effect to the terms of the agreement. Notwithstanding the provisions included in the Bill, which apply to all public servants, including elected public servants, the Government, in approving the terms of the Lansdowne Road agreement, decided that Ministers and special advisers should not avail of the pay restoration and pension-related deduction, PRD, now provided for in the FEMPI Bill. 

The Government has decided on a highly progressive amelioration of the specific measures applied to the pensions of former public servants. I have ensured that the proposals included in the Bill to reduce the impact of public service pension reduction, PSPR, will significantly favour low paid public service pensioners. Specifically, the FEMPI Bill provides for a maximum part-restoration of €400 in 2016, an additional €500 from 2017 and €780 from 2018. That is for everybody; nobody will get more than that. The Bill also retains the increased rate of 28% PSPR applied to that amount of pension in excess of €100,000 which was enacted by the Bill I brought before the House in 2013.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Of course, the commitment in respect of serving Ministers is not set out in the legislation; it is voluntary in nature but never mind that. How will Mr. Brian Cowen, former Taoiseach, who is currently struggling manfully on a pension of €134,000 fare or John Bruton, former Taoiseach, on a pension of €126, 000? What of "We have it so we will spend it", former Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, on a pension of €108,000? All of these will be in receipt of a restoration of pension under the Minister's legislation, which is a disgraceful notion. For him to try to pretend that this is progressive in any way is laughable and well he knows it. What about Ivor Callely, who has a conviction for mobile telephone expenses fraud and who is on a pension of €62,000, or Mr. Ray Burke, who has a conviction for tax offences, yet is in receipt of a pension currently of more than €95,000?

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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We are over time.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Minster deems it appropriate in a time of emergency, as his legislation sets out, to reinstate and to bump up those disgraceful pension levels.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Deputy plays the politics of this but she knows full well, because I have said it and her own legal advice will confirm it, that emergency legislation cannot selectively penalise a particular cohort of public service pensioners. It would collapse the Bill constitutionally. The Deputy knows that but that does not stop her playing politics with it. Accordingly, the proposed amelioration under the Bill of the PSPR will apply to all impacted retired public servants on a basis that is indifferent to the vocational background of the pensioner, as it has to be because that is the constitutional advice we have.

It is interesting that during the debate last night, Deputy Healy made a passionate speech from the Opposition benches in which he said his advice was that pensions enjoyed preserved rights under the Constitution and any reduction, once we begin to emerge from the emergency, would collapse this Bill. I have, therefore, taken a prudent and careful line. The maximum restoration anybody will get on either a low or high pension will be the same but I have ensured that there will be a 28% reduction for those on the top pensions and that it will not be touched by this legislation.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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The advantage conferred on former Ministers and taoisigh is self-evident in the eye-watering level of pension they enjoy. I know the Minister disagrees with me on this point. Those pensions are indefensible, and were always indefensible, but particularly so given the era of austerity that has been visited on people throughout the country, which was delivered by some of the very same individuals who are on grossly excessive pensions. I do not know how anybody could justify a pension of €134,000 for the Taoiseach who presided over calamity, crash and chaos but, my God, anybody who argues that this pension should be bumped up by a further €1,600 or €1,700 is truly demented.

The advantage is clear.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Deputy-----

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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We are over time.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister has been prudent about protecting the advantage conferred on that small number of politicians.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Deputy will peddle the political argument knowing that it is fatally flawed constitutionally and legally, having no regard for the Constitution and the decisions of the courts of the land and having no regard for anything but the narrow political advantage of trotting out names in the hope that this will accrue some support for her party. One cannot select a cohort of public sector pensioners and say, "I will remove their pensions". Will the Deputy make that commitment? We are running up to a general election in the next few months. Will she turn the Constitution and the law on its head and say that she will, regardless of the advices, withdraw those pensions from people who have this preserved pension right? I have gone as far as we can to reduce those pensions in the FEMPI legislation but as we emerge-----

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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No, the Minister has not. It is emergency legislation.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Deputy does not like to hear it so she shouts down. As we emerge from the crisis, there will be decisions to be made because one day somebody will take a challenge against the FEMPI legislation and we will have to be on robust ground. I will ensure as long as I am in charge of it that we are constitutionally sound on this.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister is on anything but robust ground. His disregard is for the taxpayer.