Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern said this evening he will forgo his pension of €83,000 while he continues to serve in the Dáil.
His Fianna Fáil colleague Frank Fahey said earlier he too was waiving his entitlements.
Their announcement came hours after Fine Gael and Labour said all their serving TDs with ministerial pensions were relinquishing theirs.
Pressure is now growing on the remaining Fianna Fáil TDs, Senators and MEPs who are still in receipt of the payments.
Fine Gael today published the amendment to the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act, 2009 which would removing with immediate effect ministerial pensions from all sitting Oireachtas members if adopted by the Dáil. The Labour Party is also in the process of drafting a similar Bill.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said if the Government did not move to adopt his party's amendment, he would force a vote in the Dáil on the issue. He said all Fine Gael ministerial pension holders have voluntarily agreed to give up their pension either to the Exchequer or to Irish charities. “Fine Gael is seeking advice on how Irish charities can maximise the benefit of these contributions,” he said.
This afternoon, a spokesman for Mr Ahern defended the former taoiseach's pension entitlements. He said a report of the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector in September 2007 recommended that the salary of Taoiseach be increased by 14 per cent from €271,882 to €310,000. Mr Ahern did not accept the increase and later retired on a pension of €111,235 instead of €134,137.
The spokesman said Mr Ahern's pension is currently €83,426.40, including a reduction of 25 per cent which is applied to sitting members of the Dáil. The pension is worth about €43,000 after tax.
The last three Labour TDs who were still in receipt of the payments – Ruairí Quinn, Emmet Stagg and Brian O’Shea – confirmed this morning they were waiving their entitlements.
In a statement, Mr Quinn said Ireland's economy has deteriorated since his pension was last reviewed. "In these circumstances I have decided to forego the pension which I currently receive while I continue to work as a member of Dáil Éireann," the Dublin South East TD said. Mr Quinn received a parliamentary pension of €41,656 in 2009.
Mr Stagg, a TD for North Kildare, said this morning he understood the public's anger at former ministers receiving pensions while still working. Mr Stagg served as minister for state at the Department of Transport in the Rainbow Coalition in 1995. According to provisional unaudited figures supplied to The Irish Times, he received a pension of €7,716 in 2009.
Labour TD for Waterford Brian O’Shea also said he was giving up his pension entitlements. Mr O’Shea, who served as minister of state at the Department of Health in 1994 to 1997, received a pension of €7,716 in 2009.
Fianna Fáil TD Frank Fahey said he would voluntarily forgo his pension of €37,205. “Having reviewed the position of my ministerial pension, and giving consideration to the current state of the public finances, I have decided to voluntarily forgo my ministerial pension until I retire from Dáil Eireann,” he said. “I will be writing to the Minister for Finance to inform him of my decision.”
European commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn agreed last night to forgo her pension entitlements after calls from a number of Government Ministers for her to review her stance on the issue.
PARLIAMENTARY PENSIONS FOR 2009
Parliamentarians who have forgone ministerial pensions, (provisional 2009 figures which have yet to be audited):
Bernard Allen (FG): €5,485
Jimmy Deenihan (FG): €1,655
Enda Kenny (FG): €9,113
Gay Mitchell MEP (FG): €2,837
Seán Barrett (FG): €28,667
Richard Bruton (FG): €13,242
Paul Connaughton (FG): €16,092
Bernard Durkan (FG): €5,483
Jim Higgins MEP (FG): €5,952
Michael Noonan (FG): €39,944
Jim O'Keeffe (FG): €17,770
Brian O'Shea (Lab): €7,716
Ruairí Quinn (Lab): €41,656
Emmet Stagg (Lab): €7,716
Joan Burton (Lab): €1,664
Eamon Gilmore (Lab): €1,181
Michael D Higgins (Lab): €17,738
Liz McManus (Lab): €2,128
Proinsias De Rossa MEP (Lab): €4,890
Pat Rabbitte (Lab): €4,255
Bertie Ahern (FF): €98,901
Frank Fahey (FF): €37,205
Mary O'Rourke (FF): €28,341
Michael Woods (FF) €33,343*
Ruairí O'Hanlon (FF): €82,355
*forwent half pension entitlement
Parliamentarians and former ministers still receiving ministerial pensions (provisional 2009 figures which have yet to be audited):
Liam Aylward MEP (FF): €12,261
Sen Ivor Callely (FF): €6,637
Pat 'the Cope' Gallagher MEP (FF): €23,634
Sen Terry Leyden (FF): €21,761
Jim McDaid (FF): €22,487
Ned O'Keeffe (FF): €6,810
Noel Treacy (FF): €24,007
Former Fianna Fáil ministers who have received severance payments but to whom payments of pensions have not yet started:
Tom Kitt, Michael Ahern, John Browne, John McGuinness, Maire Hoctor, Mary Wallace, Jimmy Devins, Michael Kitt, John O'Donoghue and Willie O'Dea.
- LIST COMPILED BY HARRY MCGEE
