TD’s early retirement
Why has FG’s Brian Walsh quit his Dáil seat as election looms?
FINE Gael TD Brian Walsh has applied for early retirement – on the grounds of ill health – that could cost the State €500,000 in additional pension payouts, the Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Mr Walsh, 43, who chaired an Oireachtas debate last Tuesday, has applied for his pension to be paid out immediately.
Ordinarily, he would have to wait until he reaches 66 years of age.
However, if his claims of illness are accepted, he will receive the enhanced service payment of approximately €1,800 per month, costing the Exchequer an additional €496,800 before his 66th birthday.
Two former Fine Gael colleagues, Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett and Seanad Cathaoirleach Paddy Burke, along with Labour Minister Brendan Howlin, will have to decide whether Mr Walsh’s ailment is grounds for an early pension payout. The Galway West deputy announced on Thursday that he was resigning from the Dáil in advance of the General Election which it is widely speculated will be called for the end of February.
According to documents seen by the Irish Mail on Sunday, Mr Walsh claimed to have diverticulitis – an inflammation of the intestine that
can cause pain.
Diverticulitis is not typically considered a serious disease and can usually can be treated at home with rest and a change of diet.
Brian Walsh wrote to the Oireachtas last year to apply for ‘early retirement on the grounds of ill health’.
In an email, he wrote: ‘In 2013, I was admitted to hospital with acute diverticulitis and spent nine days under the care of a consultant.
‘Following a colonoscopy, endoscopy and other scans I was advised that the condition was widespread throughout the large intestine and therefore could not be treated with surgery.’ The former Galway city councillor and mayor claimed to have been readmitted to hospital with the condition.
He wrote, to a Derek Walker, that he was ‘advised in recent days that early retirement on grounds of ill health would be an option that I would have recourse to pursue.
‘In light of this advice, I wish to formally apply for early retirement on grounds of ill health.’
Mr Walsh had issued a statement on November 10, 2015, stating he would not be contesting the election.
The application for early retirement was submitted on December 16, 2015, and has since been referred to the trustees of the Oireachtas pension scheme.
What Mr Barrett, Mr Burke and Mr Howlin must consider is whether Mr Walsh is entitled to receive his pension early on health grounds.
If his application is successful, Mr Walsh will also benefit from enhanced pension payments.
Ordinarily, he would be entitled to a pension at 66 years of age, calculated on the basis of his service.
As he has served five years, this would be 5/40ths of his
salary, which equates to around €900 a month.
Under the early retirement scheme, as well as receiving his pension 23 years early, he would also be credited with ‘notional service’. This is based on the assumption that – but for his retirement due to illness – he would have successfully fought at least one more election.
Under these guidelines, Mr Walsh would receive 10 years’ service, which would be 10/40ths of his salary – approximately €1,800 a month. Over 23 years this would amount to half a million in additional pension payments.
The MoS has also learned that Mr Walsh took up a position with a car sales group last July.
According to documents seen by MoS Brian Walsh became a director of Galway Premier Car Sales Ltd on July 2015.
The former TD did not reply to phone calls or text messages on Friday – and attempts to contact him through the Fine Gael press office have also proved fruitless.
A spokeswoman for the Houses of the Oireachtas said they did not discuss individual cases.
However, she did say: ‘The trustees [of the pension scheme] may pay to a person who they consider has ceased to be a member by reason of ill health a pension and gratuity to him/her having regard to such medical certification as they consider appropriate.’ Mr Walsh represented the Galway West constituency and was elected for the first time in 2011. He fell out with the Fine Gael leadership in 2013 when he told this newspaper he would not be voting for the Protection of Life in Pregnancy Bill, ultimately losing the party whip.
He did not follow his former Fine Gael colleagues in joining Lucinda Creighton’s new Renua party and ultimately returned to Fine Gael.