Larry Butler (Fianna Fail)

This motion is cynical and hypocritical because Members on the other side of the House were in receipt of pensions. I spoke to a Member at noon on the day the story about Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn broke and he said there was no way he was going to give back his pension. At 6 p.m. he was announcing his intention to give back his pension. I wonder what happened to make him change his mind between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. It is hypocritical also when one hears people speak about the amount of money spent before and during elections. Another Member on the other side of the House spent €47,000 on local election campaigns. God only knows what he spent on general elections. I will not name him, but he knows who he is.

I also query whether sitting Members who are performing work as general practitioners are drawing their pension. These are questions that will have to be answered in view of what has happened. Mr. Alan Dukes, a well paid executive of Anglo Irish Bank, is drawing his pension and refusing to give it up. The former Taoiseach, Mr. John Bruton, is still working and drawing his pension. This is a hypocritical, cynical motion that will come back to haunt to Members opposite.