grumpy
November 22, 2009, 7:36am
1
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan and his department have sanctioned extraordinary pension top-ups worth more than €100m to staff members in one of the state agencies under his control, the Sunday Independent can reveal.
Since 2006, the Revenue Commissioners have seen a mass exodus of senior staff from its ranks and new figures obtained by this newspaper show that the rate of retirement and resignations is far higher than in any other State agency.
Officially in the past four years there have been 242 retirements from Revenue and 11 have had their contracts terminated. So far this year, there have been 147 retirements from the Revenue Commissioners, five times the number in 2008.
It has also emerged that the vast majority of those who left received additional pension benefits adding greatly to the value of their pensions.
According to the figures obtained by this newspaper, the pension lump sum cost of the staff departures due to retirement totals a whopping €11,045,908. However, this does not give the full picture and when actuarial calculations are done, the actual cost to the exchequer is over 10 times that amount, according to pensions expert Catriona Ceitin.
independent.ie/national-news … 50729.html
LiamBE
November 22, 2009, 9:42am
3
All these pension top-up’s have only been revealed since the Rody Molloy deal came into the public domain. From an article in the Sunday Indo a couple of weeks back it seems that this was only because of a woman called Catriona Ceitin. These pension top-ups are costing us a fortune and need to be stopped.
independent.ie/national-news … 30445.html
It took persistence for pension expert Catriona Ceitin to highlight how Molloy deal broke rules, says Daniel McConnell
SHE is the woman who spent nine months uncovering one of the biggest news stories of the year, but for pensions legislation expert Catriona Ceitin the golden handshake pension deal for former Fas boss Rody Molloy began merely as a mild curiosity that needed investigating.
She began by conducting an exhaustive search through all public statements on Mr Molloy’s exit and package, and the relevant legislation.
“I couldn’t believe that the story got as big as it did. I’m just glad that, as a result of my work, people are now asking these questions of what is really happening to all the top guys. I’m just amazed that no one else did this before me. It was just me at home with my laptop. I’m happy this has all come out,” said Catriona.
Unlike others who seek glory for themselves, Catriona can genuinely say she has done her State some service.
Maybe we should have someone like her on the Public Accounts Committee as she seems to know what questions to ask. I second the comment by one Sindo reader who wrote…
Sir – In last week’s Sunday Independent we found out how hard it is in this ‘BaNama republic’ to reveal information. The fact that pensions expert Catriona Ceitin persisted is a tribute to her tenacity and belief, and the belief of the Sunday Independent’s Daniel McConnell over many of his peers who just sat, or were told to sit (?), on the story.
This country is mired in old ways based on the political system inherited from the British, and although Britain and most other countries that use its system have moved on, Ireland has remained stuck in the mud of history.
Hopefully her persistence will be an inspiration to others to blow the whistle on Government waste and get this country moving into the 21st century .
provost
November 22, 2009, 12:01pm
4
please provide links to all your articles from now on.independent.ie/opinion/lette … 43947.html
also, please use quote tags and not coloured text to quote articles. thanks
