Total cost of average TD in the Dáil: Annual Salary (before Croke Park II): €92,672 Notional annual contribution to pension fund: €92,672 Travel and accommodation allowance (up to): €37,850 Public Representation Allowance: €23,130 Average staff costs (parliamentary assistant + secretarial assistant): €69,000 TD’s contribution: (€5,560) Total annual cost of each TD to the state: €309,912 Upon retirement, each TD who has served longer than 20 years is furthermore entitled to claim a retirement lump sum of €139,008, a termination lump sum of €15,445, and 12 monthly ‘Termination Payments’ for the first year of retirement, calculated according to number of years of service and amounting to up to a maximum annual payment of €57,920. Only after all of that does the Deputy’s annual pension officially begin The total cost of an average minister There are currently 15 cabinet ministers and 14 ‘junior’ ministers of state in government. Each is entitled to claim a ministerial pension – to some degree – after only two years of service. (For those who have served the full term of this Dáil, the two-year period is fulfilled on March 9 and 10.) This pension is calculated as 20 per cent of their annual ministerial salary after two years, and increases by 5 per cent for each year of additional service thereafter up to a maximum of 60 per cent after 10 years. This is in addition to their normal TD’s pension. The full pension each minister is entitled to, as laid out below, is made up of both parliamentary and ministerial pensions, and amounts to €92,298 annually. It is subject to the same pension fund requirements as TDs and Senators, except that the full ministerial pension is accumulated over 10 years – as opposed to 20 years in the case of TDs and Senators, and 40 years for the typical civil servant. This means that if the Government was to finance ministerial pensions like any private sector pension fund, they would need to finance a fund of around 40 times this annual payment – amounting to a pension fund provision of an incredible €3,691,920 for each Minister who has served for over 10 years. Annual Salary (before Croke Park II): €169,275 Notional annual contribution to pension fund: €276,520 Secretarial Allowance for the purchase of PR & secretarial assistance (up to): €41,900 Public Representation Allowance: €20,000 Dual Abode Allowance (income tax break for Ministers from outside of Dublin with second home in capital): €6,500 Average staff costs (parliamentary assistant + secretarial assistant): €69,000 Contribution to TD pension: (€5,560) Total annual cost of each Minister to the state: €577,635 These figures apply to ‘ordinary’ cabinet ministers only – ministers of state cost the Exchequer less and Cabinet ministers, particularly the Taoiseach and Tánaiste, will cost more. It is worth noting that there are also various allowances which some members with certain roles such as Party Whip are entitled to. These range from €3,000 – €76,603 a year and must also be accounted for in an analysis of how much office-holders cost the Exchequer. Cabinet ministers are also entitled to claim for two special advisors, who earn a salary roughly equivalent to that of a TD.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Aug 2013 00:01:28 +0000
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