Politicians’ pensions - Bank deals need to be reviewed

IT is difficult to reconcile the great bile-fest generated by Máire Geoghegan-Quinn’s pension with the rabbits-in-the-headlights acceptance that we can do nothing to claw back some of the truly incredible retirement packages enjoyed by those whose fingerprints are all over the corpse of Ireland’s economy.

It is unacceptable in these very difficult times that Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn and others can enjoy wonderful ministerial pensions and maybe a full-time chauffeur and a State Mercedes while being paid six-figure sums to do other jobs in politics, but it is far less offensive than the idea that Michael Fingleton can waltz off to the cocktail lounge with a €27,000,000 pension pot and a €1,000,000 bonus taken from the bank he single-handedly destroyed and we will have to rescue.

Irish Nationwide Building Society lost almost €2.5 billion last year after setting aside almost €2.8bn for loan losses. These figures are a direct consequence for Fingleton’s greed and recklessness. He is not alone.

Former Bank of Ireland boss Brian Goggin, enjoys a pension reportedly worth €650,000 a year – that’s €12,500 a week to play golf for presiding over the absolute decimation of shareholder value. Denis Casey, who quit Irish Life after the dirty dancing with Anglo Irish went public, got €4.5 million to keep body and soul together. Pat Neary, the former and ineffective financial regulator, resigned last year with a €630,000 payoff and a pension. Disgraced FÁS boss Rody Molloy got an €111,000 severance payment on top of full pension benefits. He also got a payment of €330,000, based on one-and-a-half times his annual salary into his pension. And he kept the company car.

The worst thing about this list is that it could go on and on: we all know who these people are and it is almost impossible to equate their rewards with their failures. We seem frozen, unable to confront the obvious injustice, the dreadful effrontery, of rewarding such terrible, society-challenging failures so gallantly.

Politician baiting has almost become a national sport but, compared to the wonderful pension arrangements enjoyed by the real culprits in this sorry saga, politicians are just bit players. If we are to kick up a stink about pensions maybe we should look at others too.

At the weekend Taoiseach Brian Cowen reminded us of the December decision to cut pensions for former ministers still in office by 25% and to abolish them after the next election. It would have been far better if he proposed legislation to allow us sequester private assets and pension funds built on reckless and disastrous banking and financial services. A similar mechanism is needed for errant public servants and semi-state bosses.

All politicians face a fairer pensions’ regime after the election so the issue can be put aside. What cannot be put aside is the financial immunity those who played central roles in our banking collapse enjoy.

As far too many private sector workers will confirm the destruction of a retirement fund focuses the mind so it’s time we put a price on the devastation this small group of people caused. Any right normally associated with private firms’ pension schemes was made invalid the instant public funding became essential to the banks’ survival. And it’s high time we collected.

This is not about collecting a pound of flesh, it is about showing that this can be a fair and equitable society, one that is worth rebuilding.