Pension utopia for politicians while the masses struggle on

GODFREY’S GOSPEL
According to Michael Godfrey
FIRST we were told someone – no-one is really sure who – had mislaid €3.6 billion. Then we were told that even though the money had been found, we were still going to have to endure a €3.6 billion hairshirt budget next month.

Now we hear that even though the country is skint, there is no problem paying huge pensions to former government ministers and their buddies in the civil service.

Many people will spend their entire lives trying to make ends meet. Not alone are they trying to make ends meet on the average industrial wage (let that be €36,000 a year – roughly one-third of what our politicians are paid) but when they retire, they can look forward to a state pension of just over €9,000.

On the other hand, our politicians, who are all the time telling us we have to endure, cut back, make savings and so forth, believe they are entitled to pensions way in excess of that.

Figures released last week show the huge gap between those who have and those of us who will have to make-do.

Take former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, for example. He is charging huge appearance fees all over Europe while trousering a pension of €152,000. And it doesn’t stop there. He is entitled to a car, a secretary and God knows what else – even down to special treatment when passing through airports.

Brian Cowen is also up there, as are many more. Remember, there are also tax-free lump sums involved to soften the blow, and while many TDs – particularly those from the last coalition – may still be without a job, we should not feel too sorry for them. After all, they are still being paid by the state to allow them time to find alternative employment.

Not bad. You lose your job and then you are paid a salary for a year to give you time to find alternative employment. If not, you can look forward to a nice pension, indexed linked, the likes of which does not exist in the private sector, irrespective of how much money a person wants to contribute for their retirement.

In recent days, the government has made a big play that basic social welfare payments are not going to be touched. Instead, efforts will be made to reduce the number of fraud cases, particularly lone parent rent allowances and the like.

What about the €40,000 worth of Oireachtas envelopes which disappeared when the last Dáil concluded its business. Will any effort be made to track down those who made off with the stash? I doubt it.

There is no doubt that the current government has a better handle on public perception than its predecessor. The comments of government ministers after the refusal by a couple of banks to pass on interest rate cuts made that obvious. But we need more than just soundbites.

I know politics is a dirty game and if you survive the battle, it is only right that some reward awaits. But a pension of €3,000 a week, which will rise each year for the rest of your life, is some reward.

In one month, Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen will receive the yearly equivalent of what a single person gets from the state pension. I don’t care what argument is put forward – it just doesn’t seem right, does it?

Michael Noonan was a great one to find fault with a lot when he was the opposition finance spokesperson. Now that he is the one in charge, and it is his department which is responsible for the payment of these and other pensions, perhaps it is time he took a serious look at the current arrangements and made a move to bring some fairness to the situation.

But will he do that? I doubt it. After all, both he and his senior officials are also looking to the day when they too can enjoy a lucrative retirement.