For politicians we can truly trust we need to reform the system first

FEW tears were shed this week for Dermot Ahern and John Gormley as those government ministers contemplated life without power.

The blow of retirement to Ahern will be softened by an extraordinary redundancy and pension package that means he will be substantially better off financially out of politics than continuing to sit as an opposition TD.

The departing Fianna Fáil minister, once spoken of as a potential party leadership candidate once Brian Cowen departs, will get almost €320,000 in the first 12 months after he retires from the Dáil and more than €177,000 of that will be tax free. A year after retirement, he will be entitled to a combined annual ministerial and TD’s pension of €128,300, compared to the €98,400 he would get as a TD. If he had decided to stay in Dáil Eireann, had he been re-elected as he probably would, he would have been allowed to claim only half of his pension entitlement. Ahern, who has served as a minister since 1997, is just 55 years old. Amid coverage of details such as this Ahern’s ill-health — which is a genuine problem — and the picketing of his family home by protesters did not gather much attention or sympathy, though they should have.