They gave their lives to it.
Sinn Féin President, Gerry Adams TD, today (Wednesday) received an answer to a parliamentary question, which detailed the amount of pensions paid to former ministers.
The response confirmed that 109 ex-ministers are in receipt of pensions, amounting to an €8.8 million payroll every year at taxpayers’ expense.
Thirty of them have pensions over €100,000 a year, including former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern (right) on €152,000, corrupt former minister Ray Burke (left) on €103,000 and former Labour leader, Dick Spring on €121,000.
Sinn Féin finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said:“The fact that this level of payments is being paid to former ministers when we are facing into one of the harshest budgets in history is a scandal. Many of the people on this list are the architects of our economic downfall and of the hardships being faced by hundreds of thousands of Irish people today.”