Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 145: To ask the Minister for Finance the payroll and the financial package, including basic salary and pension entitlements of outgoing taoisigh, Ministers and Ministers of State. [2505/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The table sets out the basic salary entitlements (i.e. Office Holders allowance plus Oireachtas Members salary) for the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Minister and Minister of State on 1 September 2008:

Pension Entitlements:

Two years of service are required to qualify for an Office Holder's pension. A person who held the office of Taoiseach qualifies for Taoiseach's pension following a minimum period of two years service as Taoiseach or Minister. The pension is 20% of the Office Holder's allowance for the first two years of service plus 5% of the allowance for each further year of service up to a maximum of 60%. Pension is not payable before age 50, or age 65 in the case of "new entrants" as defined in the Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004, except in the case of the Taoiseach. The pension is reduced to one-half if the person continues as a member of either House of the Oireachtas or as an MEP.

On leaving office severance may be payable for up to two years; the rates payable are: 75% of Office Holder's salary for the first six months; 50% of Office Holder's salary for the next twelve months; and 25% of Office Holder's salary for the final six months. A person may, if entitled to, switch to pension at any point but severance and pension are not payable at the same time.

Separate pension entitlements are payable in respect of TD service. Two years of service is also required to qualify for a TD's pension entitlements. These are a pension of 1/40th plus lump sum of 3/40ths of TD salary for each year of service up to a maximum of 20 years. The pension entitlements are not payable before age 50 (or from age 45 on an actuarially reduced basis), or age 65 in the case of "new entrants".

Severance may also be payable to a TD. This consists of a lump sum of 1/6th of annual salary if the person has a minimum of six months service. In addition if a person has a minimum of three years continuous service as a TD then a monthly payment may be made in respect of each year of service over two years up to a maximum of twelve monthly payments. The amount of monthly payment is 75% of 1/12th of the annual salary for the first six payments and 50% of 1/12th of the annual salary for the next six payments. A person may, if entitled to, switch to pension at any point but severance and pension are not payable at the same time.