Cowen warns unions but stays silent on pensions

THE contrast could not have been greater.

In his speech at the annual Fianna Fáil 1916 commemoration in Dublin’s Arbour Hill yesterday, Taoiseach Brian Cowen gave a clear warning to public servants that if they did not accept the current pay deal, further wage cuts and job losses could be a possibility.

Then, just a few minutes after finishing his speech, he was asked by reporters about Máire Geoghegan Quinn’s lucrative ministerial and TD pensions which, combined, are costing the taxpayer an estimated €107,000 a year.