Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

The motivation behind section 16 has changed since we last discussed this Bill in the House. Was it based on other legislation lying around in the Department of Finance that just needed to be tidied up as part of other miscellaneous legislative measures, as we were led to believe? We were told by the Minister last week that there were eight sections in this Bill when it was first proposed to the Government and that an additional 17 were tagged on. It now transpires that the motivation behind section 16 was very much to look after one individual. Regardless of the long-standing merits of the legislation, we now know its basis. It was interesting that a Government Senator first questioned this.

A Green Paper on pensions was published by the Government not long ago. The pension proposals therein have all the newness of a reheated dinner yet, with great haste, section 16 found its way into this Bill. People are of the impression that the Opposition somehow approves of it in the same way that the Taoiseach and Ministers approve of giving themselves such extravagant pay awards at a time when, in the words of a former Taoiseach, we should be tightening our belts in view of what lies ahead. This lowers the standing of politicians in the eyes of the general public. We are making fools of ourselves. Why was it not announced that this section was inserted to suit one individual and was based on correspondence sent by that same individual to the Minister for Finance? That should have been made known.

Nobody will dispute the fact that people are entitled to their pensions. That a former Minister forgot to claim his pension is irrelevant. What I object to is the sneakiness and the Government's hope that this provision would slip in under the radar, which has happened before. That is why members of the general public raise their eyebrows at this sort of behaviour. It is indicative of corruption and of a Government serving itself rather than the people. Rather than being outraged, people are silently angry that the Government is once again looking after itself, with large pay awards, generous pensions and changing legislation to suit its members.