Ex-TD bank directors net up to €130k in pensions

A NUMBER of state-appointed bank directors are being paid ministerial and TD pensions of up to €130,000 a year on top of their earnings in the bailed-out financial institutions.

They are included in the overall €12 million Oireachtas pensions bill for 2009, which includes €8.5m in oireachtas pensions paid to 251 former TDs and senators and €3.7m worth of pensions for former ministers.

Many of those benefiting from the €12m pension pot still hold Dáil seats, or have highly paid jobs in the public or private sector.

A number of former politicians who were appointed by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan as public interest directors in banks covered by the state guarantee, are among those entitled to lucrative pensions. These include:

* Former Fine Gael leader Alan Dukes – who earns €99,000 as a Government appointed member on the board of Anglo Irish Bank – earns a combined ministerial and TD’s salary of €99,470.

* Former Labour leader and Tánaiste, Dick Spring, who receives a ministerial pension of €77,000 as well as a TD’s pension of €52,213, for a combined total of almost €130,000. This is on top of his basic salary of €27,375 and €3,000 for every committee meeting he attends as public interest director at the partly state-owned AIB.

* Former Fianna Fáil TD, Joe Walsh – who is paid €78,750 as a state-appointed non-executive director at Bank of Ireland – receives ministerial and TD pensions worth €127,000 in total.

Former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, is entitled to a pension payment of almost €99,000 on top of his TD’s salary of just under €100,000.

Former EU Commissioner, Charlie McCreevy, receives a ministerial pension of €74,746 and a TD’s pension of €52,000. When added to his €51,000 EU pension, Mr McCreevy’s total pension package is worth €178,000 per year.

He also receives a “step down” payment following his departure from Brussels, worth €537,000 over the next three years.

Former Fianna Fáil MEP, Eoin Ryan, receives a ministerial pension of €5,909 and a TD pension of €50,000. This is on top of the €131,000 salary he earns as the Government-appointed Irish representative of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

At least 25 sitting TDs were entitled to ministerial pensions in 2009 amounting to €541,180 but nine opted not to receive the pension.

Former Fine Gael Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald is entitled to a pension total of €156,139, but contacted RTE’s Liveline yesterday to say that he will take steps himself to have it reduced.