Plan to strip ex-ministers of pension payments to proceed

THE Department of Finance has insisted it will proceed with a plan to strip former ministers of their pension payments if they are still serving in the Dáil or Seanad.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan announced the move in last week’s emergency Budget, saying he was ending the arrangement whereby former ministers are paid ministerial pensions while they are still members of the Oireachtas.

It emerged at the weekend, however, that the attorney general had raised concerns about the move, saying it might not be legally enforceable.