Politicians’ pensions are obscenely high

The pension pots of our Ministers and TDs are too much, comparable to other countries, for what they achieve.

Their earnings blind them to the needs and plights of the less-well-off. The Fine Gael and Labour fund, worth €30m, is a long way short of the €50m for Fianna Fail ministers.

Assuming they finish their current terms of office, Ministers Joan Burton, Jan O’Sullivan and M/s. Howlin, Gilmore, Quinn, Rabbitte and White have a pension-pot worth €15m. Five of them have €2m each and the two others €1m each.

‘Equality’ is the key word in the forthcoming referendum. The contrast between public representatives’ pension pots and that of the population aged 35 to 45 makes the blood boil. A recent Mercer pension report found that due to the recession, half of this age group has no private provision for retirement.

James Gleeson,

Thurles,

Co.Tipperary