Alan Kelly (Labour)

I concur with the sentiments of the previous speakers regarding this matter. At the weekend, through some excellent journalism, we became aware of further information pertaining to section 16 of this Bill. I agree with Senators Twomey and O'Malley that this is no way to conduct our business. Adding a large amount of so-called bits and pieces to Bills allows for circumstances such as this to arise and increases public cynicism. It does not do the legislation any good, nor does it reflect well on us as legislators.

One would have to ask why the information about Deputy Woods revealed over the weekend was not given to us before. Why was it not made clear that somebody had basically forgotten to claim his pension entitlement and that a request had been made to the Department of Finance to change the rules? If we had known that, we would have been able to deal with this section of the Bill in a more prudent and informative manner. We read today as a result of another piece of excellent journalism that a garda made a similar request to the Department of Finance but it was denied because of the possibility it would set a precedent. The reality is this is setting a precedent, which my fellow speakers have said. We should treat everybody in the same manner. State pensioners can only backdate their pensions by six months. In this instance, a former Minister's pension will be backdated much further. It will breed cynicism and the public will say politicians are looking after themselves again.

This comes on the back of pay awards which the Government was given and accepted last week. It shows a Government which is out of touch. Furthermore, I cannot believe the Deputy in question said it was not a huge amount of money in real terms. It is €37,000. On the back of what the Taoiseach and other Ministers said last week about the pay awards, I find such a comment amazing. It is a significant amount of money. When the Deputy retires from the House, it will contribute to him having a significant pension. Given the work he has done, there is no question but that he is entitled to his pension but for one to say this is not a huge amount of money is crazy.

We should have had this information when we dealt with the Bill last week. There is a huge lesson to be learned. Bills brought before both Houses should be more coherent. The idea of adding on miscellaneous provisions creates a dangerous precedent. In cases where provisions are being made for individuals, we need more information when a Bill is going through the House, otherwise these situations will arise. We must treat people fairly in regard to pension entitlements. We cannot have a situation where the Government looks after an individual who is a former Minister but does not treat people who apply for similar entitlements in the same manner. Many of us have had cases brought to our attention and have made representations on people's behalf which have been turned down. How can such representations be turned down when this one was facilitated by the Minister for Finance? The situation is ridiculous and needs to be changed.