If a minister hasn't reimbursed money over their inaccurate pension, they will get no pension

Enterprise minister Peter Burke said if a minister has not started paying the money back, it is because they have queried the calculations

Peter Burke: 'Everyone has the right to ensure that they are paying the correct amount.'

Any Government minister or retired civil servant who does not pay back money they owe to the State will not receive their pension.

Enterprise minister Peter Burke denied that any minister was dodging repaying liabilities after it emerged that tax deductions were not appropriately applied to pension provisions. Ministers’ liabilities ranged between a few hundred euro and the “low €30,000”.

In June, public expenditure minister Jack Chambers confirmed that, due to administrative errors at the National Shared Services Office (NSSO), members of the current Government, some members of previous governments, and several office holders have had an incorrect application of pension deductions.

At the finance committee on Wednesday, he stated that 32 current ministers owed money back to the State. Of these, 10 had yet to start paying back the money or enter a payment plan with the NSSO.

During Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil, Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty stated there was “one rule for ordinary people and another rule for government ministers”.

He said: “This isn't the government's money. It's not the department's money. It is the public's money. It is taxpayers' money.

“[Mr Chambers’] explanation, if you could call it one, was that there was ongoing follow-up with the ministers. Seven months later, ongoing follow up?

“Only in this Government could a phrase like that be used to justify a complete absence of urgency, of discipline, of accountability or of consequence.

Let's be clear about the contrast here, if an ordinary worker or a pensioner is overpaid by the Department of Social Protection, through no fault of their own, they’re not given seven months to agree to pay it back. 

Mr Doherty said it was “not small numbers” involved and that some ministers owe up to €30,000 and “couldn't be bothered to pay back even one red cent”.

Mr Burke, who was taking Leaders’ Questions for Tánaiste Simon Harris, denied that Government ministers were not engaging with the NSSO. He stated that the errors in calculating pension contributions occurred as part of the Government’s decision to ask ministers to gift part of their salary back to the State. 

Confusion arose around whether the pension deduction should be calculated on the gross salary or the “net amount that was sacrificed”. Mr Burke said if a minister has not started paying the money back, it is because they have queried the calculations.

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“Everyone has the right to ensure that they are paying the correct amount,” Mr Burke said.

“The Government is crystal clear that any retired civil servant or minister who does not comply or pay back what is due to the Exchequer will not receive their pension, because this is a key requirement in funding their pension.”