Tony Mulcahy (Fine Gael)

Will the Leader ask the Minister for Finance if he has any plans to cull the practice of retired public and civil servants, who have taken substantial lump sums from the State and who are in receipt of State pensions, returning to State employment in one form or another, namely, nurses, gardaí, teachers, etc? This practice is wrong. Many people are looking for work yet people have pensions coming in one door and wages coming in the other. The Minister for Finance should address the problem and put a stop to this practice.

Yesterday, Senator O'Brien got very agitated about the Taoiseach's tax claim on his property in Dublin. Unfortunately, there is a cost in doing business when one has to spend six or seven days a week or 350-odd days of the year here. I do not have a difficulty with the tax practice in that regard. It has applied here for over 50 years, before it applied to the Taoiseach. However, I did not hear Senator O'Brien get as agitated when the pensions of retired Ministers and Taoisigh were printed in the newspaper the previous week.