Commissioner bowed under Cabinet pressure

EU Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn gave up the battle to retain her lucrative pension after numerous Cabinet ministers made clear she should forego it.

The Department of Finance issued a short statement last night saying Ms Geoghegan-Quinn would gift the pension to the state until her term as commissioner finished.

“Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn has contacted the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan TD, to ask that the necessary arrangements be put in place to allow her to gift to the state her current ministerial and Oireachtas pension for the duration of her service as an EU commissioner,” it said.