State pays pensions of €9.6m to 111 ex-ministers

On top of €500,000 packages for bankers, the State is paying out over €9.65m a year for pensions for 111 former ministers.

Thirty-five get combined ministerial and TD pensions worth over €100,000 gross each year and a further 68 receive pensions worth in excess of €50,000.

Brian Cowen and Bertie Ahern, two men at the helm as the financial crisis began to unfold, are each entitled to a combined annual pens-ion of €164,526 before tax.