Bill for ministers’ pensions falls to €3.7m

The cost of paying pensions to former ministers has fallen by almost €700,000 to just over €3.7m over the past three years.

The 16% overall cut in ministerial pensions for 119 former members of the Cabinet has resulted from measures taken by the Government to reduce the size of the public service pension bill.

Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin published figures which show the total annual bill for ministerial pensions was over €4.4m prior to the introduction of the Public Service Pension Reduction in January 2011.