Madam, - With a proposal to introduce a mandatory pension scheme in the headlines, may I remind those advocating its introduction that we already have such a scheme. It is called Pay Related Social Insurance. This, of course, is a misnomer as the prefix "pay related", while it applies to all employees in relation to contributions, it is of benefit only to those in State employment when used to assess one's pension entitlement.
To add insult to injury, many public servants, from Oireachtas members to the most lowly, contribute a smaller percentage of their salaries than that required of lesser mortals and for a pension which is pay related, not to the salary of the grade at which they retired, but to that enjoyed by current members at that grade.
The Minister constantly reminds us of the demographic changes taking place in our society and of the adverse effect this will have on the ability of the State to meet its requirements in future years. Were the pensions of all politicians to be deferred until their reaching 66 and assessed on the average number of their appearances in the Dáil chamber and on the number of minutes contributed to debates, reckoned from their first appointment to date of retirement - periods out of office to be included - what a saving there would be to the pension fund.
In addition, we have those gifted with bi-location, holding pensionable dual mandates in Brussels and Dublin plus, for some, a teacher's pension on retirement - all of it being drawn from the same pension fund. Local councillors are now claiming a share of this gravy train. Where will it all end?
As road tolling is now general why not use the pension fund, rather than private finance, to build these roads with reasonable tolls reverting in full to the fund, thereby making such payments, being contributions towards their pensions, less painful to road users? - Yours, etc,
PAT O'CONNELL, St Brendan's Drive, Coolock, Dublin 5.