'Minister for Hardship' getting three pensions worth €115,000
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Monday July 27 2009
FORMER finance minister Richie Ryan is picking up three separate pensions funded by the Irish taxpayer.
Mr Ryan (80) is one of five ex-TDs receiving an Oireachtas pension, a ministerial pension and an MEP pension.
He inflicted a raft of widely unpopular measures, such as capital gains tax, during the 1970s Fine Gael-Labour coalition led by Liam Cosgrave.
His tough policies saw him mercilessly lampooned in RTE's satirical series 'Hall's Pictorial Weekly' as the penny-pinching "Minister for Hardship".
He later went on to serve as an MEP in 1973 and again from 1977 to 1986.
Confidential documents, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, show Mr Ryan received a €17,178 MEP's pension, a €60,044 Oireachtas pension for his time as a TD and a ministerial pension worth €37,827 last year. This provided him with a total income last year of more than €115,049.
Ex-Fianna Fail TDs Gerard Collins, Noel Davern, Liam Hyland and ex-Fine Gael TD Tom O'Donnell also received three pensions in 2008. And it is understood all five are still receiving the pension pots.
The revelation comes as taxpayers fear for their income after the cost-cutting body, An Bord Snip Nua, outlined €5bn of possible spending cuts.
The information also comes in the wake of fears for private pension schemes, which have been hit by the credit crunch. Some 90pc of company schemes have been left in deficit.
According to the figures, Mr Collins (71), an ex-Fianna Fail TD for Limerick West, last year received a €19,579 MEP's pension, a €52,213 Oireachtas pension and a €56,252 ministerial pension, worth a total of €128,044. He served as justice minister and as an MEP between 1994 and 2004.
In 1991 he infamously pleaded with Albert Reynolds not to "burst up the party" by challenging Charles Haughey for leadership.
Mr Davern (64), who previously served as a Fianna Fail TD in Tipperary South, received a €12,270 MEP's pension, a €56,515 Oireachtas pension and a €20,746 ministerial pension last year, giving him a total of €89,531. He previously served as education minister and also as an MEP between 1979 and 1984.
Mr Hyland (76), an ex-Fianna Fail TD for Laois-Offaly, held office as a junior agriculture minister and later as an MEP between 1994 and 2004.
Last year he received a €19,579 MEP's pension, a €51,733 Oireachtas pension and a €11,837 ministerial pension -- giving him a total of €83,149.
Mr O'Donnell (83), a former Fine Gael TD for Limerick East, received a €19,579 MEP's pension, a €52,213 TD's pension and a €37,827 ministerial pension, giving a total of €109,619.
He was previously Gaeltacht Minister and served as an MEP between 1979 and 1989.
"A person is entitled to receive an MEP pension and an Oireachtas pension at the same time, as each pension scheme is governed by its own rules and conditions," an Oireachtas spokesman said.
Last night both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail refused to comment on the figures.
Mr Collins and Mr Hyland could not be contacted, despite a series of phone calls. Mr Ryan, Mr Davern and Mr O'Donnell refused to comment.
- Patricia McDonagh
