{"id":287209,"date":"2026-01-16T08:10:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T08:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/287209\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T08:10:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T08:10:07","slug":"more-than-e650000-in-tax-collectively-owed-on-pensions-of-some-former-politicians-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/287209\/","title":{"rendered":"More than \u20ac650,000 in tax collectively owed on pensions of some former politicians \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than \u20ac650,000 in tax was collectively owed to Revenue<\/a> <\/b>at the end of 2024 <\/b>from former politicians\u2019 pension<\/a> pots worth more than \u20ac2 million. <\/p>\n

According to the most recent figures available, the total amount owed in Chargeable Excess Tax (CET) on the pensions of some former TDs and senators at the end of that year was \u20ac656,953. <\/p>\n

The figures are included in a financial report from Ciste Pinsean, the Houses of the Oireachtas<\/a> pension scheme for TDs and senators elected before 2013. All other politicians are included in a separate pension scheme. <\/p>\n

CET is a tax that is charged at a rate of 40 per cent on any excess above a certain threshold. The standard threshold above which CET was charged in 2024 was \u20ac2 million, meaning that if a person\u2019s pension fund is worth more than this by the time they retire then the tax will apply. <\/p>\n

For private-sector workers, the tax is paid by a pension provider to Revenue within three months of a person retiring. <\/p>\n

But for public-sector pensions, the tax can be repaid slowly over 20 years through a reduction in pension payments. That means the \u20ac656,953 owed at the end of 2024 may not necessarily have been overdue.<\/p>\n

According to the 2024 financial report from Ciste Pinsean, there was \u20ac549,898 \u201coutstanding\u201d from pensions in CET in January 2024.<\/p>\n

The Houses of the Oireachtas pension scheme applies only to politicians who were elected before January 1st, 2013. All politicians elected after that are part of a separate pension scheme called the Single Public Service Pension Scheme.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Better-paid TDs, more powerful ministers \u2013 and other ideas to improve IrelandOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Despite the fact that CET has applied to pensions paid after 2005, the 2024 accounts were the first year that CET was included in the financial statements of the Oireachtas pension fund. <\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for the Houses of the Oireachtas said CET had previously been included in its accounts as an expenditure item. However, it was told by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General<\/a> in advance of its 2024 accounts to include the tax \u201cas a separate line item in the account to ensure full transparency and accuracy with accounting standards\u201d.<\/p>\n

Along with the \u20ac549,898 outstanding from pension in CET in January 2024, the financial report said there was another \u20ac142,344 due in CET by the end of 2024. Over the course of the same year, there were repayments of \u20ac35,289 in CET made to Revenue by the Oireachtas pension fund. <\/p>\n

The same accounts also said there was a total of \u20ac374,697 paid in lump sums to six people in 2024. This was an increase on the \u20ac120,530 paid to four people in 2023.<\/p>\n

To qualify for a pension, a TD or senator must have served for a minimum of two years in either the D\u00e1il, the Seanad or both houses. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0More than 30 current and former ministers overpaid in pensions error yet to start repaymentsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

If a politician was elected before April 2004, they qualify for a pension and lump sum at the age of 50 or a reduced lump sum and pension between 45 and 49. Those elected between 2004 and 2013, who qualify for the Ciste Pinsean scheme, are paid their retirement fund at the age of 65 or a reduced lump sum and pension between 55 and 64. <\/p>\n

For all other politicians, who qualify for the Single Public Service Pension Scheme, their age of retirement is 66 and they can avail of a reduced lump sum and pension between 55 and 65.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than \u20ac650,000 in tax was collectively owed to Revenue at the end of 2024 from former politicians\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287210,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[79,18,19,17,7335,234,235],"class_list":{"0":"post-287209","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-irish-politics","13":"tag-personal-finance","14":"tag-personalfinance"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115903766460123556","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}