Pension cash bonanza for 'good-time Charlie'
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OUTGOING European Commissioner Charlie McCreevy will be entitled to a major cash bonanza of generous pensions and allowances when he bows out of Brussels.
The former finance minister received a TD and ministerial pension last year of €125,000 -- on top of his €238,000 salary as European Commissioner.
He was paid an Oireachtas pension of €52,123 for his time as a Fianna Fail TD and a ministerial pension of €75,003 for serving as finance and enterprise ministers.
On leaving Brussels at the end of his term of office, to be succeeded by Maire Geoghegan Quinn as Ireland's European Commissioner, Mr McCreevy will be entitled to a "transitional allowance" for three years.
The allowance, which aims to help commissioners with their "re-entry" into the non-EU world, is calculated as 50pc of Mr McCreevy's €238,919-a-year salary.
It is paid the day he leaves office and works out at €119,459.50 a year -- with the final three-year tally in the region of €358,378.
Furthermore, the Kildare native will be entitled to access a "resettlement allowance" worth €19,909.
Officially, Mr McCreevy was due to leave office in Brussels on October 31.
Allowances
But it is understood he is still wrapping up business there having being appointed Commissioner for Internal Markets and Services in 2004.
While in Brussels, he was also entitled to a monthly entertainment allowance of €607 and a residence allowance which is 15pc of his annual pay.
As Finance Minister, Mr McCreevy was seen as one of the architects of the Celtic Tiger with his implementation of tax cuts for workers and tax incentives for property developers. But his legacy has been called into question by the likes of former Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald in the wake of the economic recession.
In particular, his decision to impose "light touch" financial regulation has cast the former Finance Minister under major scrutiny amid the banking crisis and moves to set up NAMA.
However, Mr McCreevy has steadfastly refused to accept any responsibility for the economic downturn.
He has repeatedly found himself the subject of screaming headlines.
Last year he claimed no "sane person" would actually want to read the entire Lisbon Treaty.
Previously, he was at the centre of controversy when he, Tanaiste Mary Harney and some friends holidayed with businessman Ulick McEvaddy in his French villa. At the time, the Omega Air founder was seeking the go-ahead for an independent terminal at Dublin Airport.
- AINE KERR
Irish Independent
