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THREE OUT OF five voters think the president should give up their State pension while in office, according to a new poll.
The findings are from the same Paddy Power/Red C poll which yesterday showed that a huge majority want to see Higgins returned as president.
The poll also looked at people’s attitudes towards presidential earnings and salaries and found that a majority felt a president should not be collecting a pension while in office.
The Sunday Times reported last month that President Higgins has continued to draw down €19,000-a-year a pension from NUI Galway during his time in office.
Asked whether state pension payments should be disallowed while a president in office, 60% agreed that they should while 40% disagreed.
Sinn Féin voters were the most likely to support disallowing pensions (74%), followed by Fianna Fáil voters (65%)
Currently, the salary of the president is €249,000 per year.
The opinion poll also asked whether this should be dramatically reduced to the minimum wage of €9.55 per hour.
Almost one in five (19%) agreed that it should but 81% were opposed to the idea.
Sinn Fein voters were again most likely to be in favour of the measure with 31% supporting it.
The poll also looked people’s attitudes towards a united Ireland becoming on the agenda as a result of Brexit.
It found that just over three in five people (61%) would support a united Ireland arising from Brexit, with 39% opposed.
Unsurprisingly, Sinn Féin voters were the most likely to support this, but a majority of both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael voters were also in favour of a united Ireland resulting from Brexit.
Labour and independent voters were opposed.
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Let them have one pension, which they can draw from when they retire and even then they should have been making contributions on it.
@Liam Byrne: while I don’t think he should be drawing any pensions while president, a well paid job I don’t don’ think he should have to forfeit any pensions when he does retire. The total amount paid by state pensions should be capped though.
@Liam Byrne: How about all th epoliticians only have 1 pension of a max of 50k yr. The rest of us have to live on a lot less. Expenses should only be refunded when a receipt is provided. I get nothing back from petty cash unless I have a receipt.
@Reg: When things went belly up and pension funds vanished was he affected if not why not as his party was partially responsible or have I got it wrong
@bings: Bings agree 100%. It always amazes me that the state obliges itself to pay enormous pensions to people who have already earned large salaries. By all means let people fund additional pension but cap to a max of €50k what a person receives from state. Hopefully the crazy days of defined benefits for state sector is coming to an end.
@FlopFlipU: I said many times on here during the height of the recession thar state pensions should be capped.
@bings: your right.
However at nearly €1000 per week by the logic , it is way more than so so many receive in there employment. Pensions are a scam.
Everyone should receive benefits when retired but not to the tune of that.
I think it’s safe to say our president and politicians gets rewarded very very well financially, even though michael d has done an adequate but unimaginative, bog standard job in office, while our politicians have been substandard, very poor.
@Adrian:
I do t like Mícheál Dwarf Higgins
All Government TD’s, ex-minister, MEP’s should only get the pension for the last job they done and nothing else. I don’t give a dam howling they worked in Politics.
@Mick12: they are entitled the pensions they contributed to, if they are under pensionable age while in offfice then like everybody else they continue to contribute. If you had a few jobs then normally your pension would reflect your accumulated rights.
@Mick12: that’s nonsense. The total amount should be capped though.
@Mick12: There will be a number of them living on the dole then as Harris went into politics straight from college studying media which he never finished. That leaves him on the dole as he has never worked a day in his life. Would be interesting to see him in A&E with the rest of us waiting on chairs for hrs because the people in the top jobs have not done their jobs.
More begrudgers who resent anyone who has done better than them…
He’s already giving back thousands in his salary! They will be expecting him to work for free next!
@Vic’s Burd: Are you for real? Begrudgers resenting anyone who has done better? Do you realize that none of them has “done better” as they are not being paid from some imaginary pot of gold but their multiple pensions and wages come directly from our pockets?
Tell me how many pensions are enough for one person?
@Vic’s Burd: The voice of a complacent “ I’m all right Jack, damn the rest of you less fortunate.” Enjoy life in your ivory tower, Oh Hypocrite Lecteur.
@Vic’s Burd: how many pensions has been again… Oh wait.
Technically, if he’d kept his word we wouldn’t be having this debate or article. But of course politicians aren’t gentlemen of integrity. Given the job its a ‘token’ job, he should at least give others the opportunity to display Ireland’s diversity rather than hog the limelight like some ‘entitled’psudo intellectual.
How many pension’s does the president get in total and how long ago since he had anything to do with Galway uni
@FlopFlipU: just the one from NUI Galway.
@Rory: OK and how long has he been collecting it
@FlopFlipU: How much is Enda getting & the rest of the politicians who were not elected at the last round.
@FlopFlipU: One draws a pension because one pays into the pension fund during one’s working life. A pension may be collected when one meets the criteria for pension eligibility. The man is entitled to collect that for which he has saved. Begrudgery is of no value. Like masturbation, it only benefits the practitioner and is of use to anyone else.
Give up your oul pension
Sure the tax payer is paying for his toilet paper
Michael D has done a great job, but it is time for him to move on in my opinion. He very likely won the last election unfairly because of a fake tweet. The man he took the place of is now in second place and deserves to be president. Michael D needs to do the right thing by stepping aside and by keeping his word by being a one term president.
The President should pay all expenses from his salary, perhaps then the frivolous expenditure would be curtailed.
To be fair the president’s pention doesn’t bother me in the least. It’s the full on in your face corruption in this country that pi**es me off
@yermas dildo: he earned that pension so why take it away from him? It’s not as though it’s a fortune and it would be very hard to live on as it stands. I hope he is returned as President, stop the national predisposition for begrudgery.
@yermas dildo: where’s the corruption? Have you reported it’s illegality to the authorities?
@helen walsh: have to agree with you Helen, that small pension was part of his contract. However, the abatement rule is strictly applied to other public service pensions, everyone from an ex Garda to office clerk to social worker has to surrender their sometimes well earned pension entitlements to take up another state role. Sauce for the goose …
@iohanx: and which authorities would he report it to? The corrupt one that’s in the pocket of the corrupted maybe….
Here I am, just 2 outta 5 :-)
Gotta love the polls….
Some waste of money
How much has that grubby greedy wee bar-steward milked from the Irish taxpayer in his life .
Reading the results of that poll are really just mind-boggling. And no way reflect the comments posted on this page. I really don’t think I trust these polls at all.
the president should do all the aras shopping in Lidl specially for veg as its great value. and the old age pension should be donated to a deserving charity this charity should be decided by referendum to avoid bickering between candidate’s but most of all whoever’s elected should have a good grasp of the constitution
so that narrows the field substantially
cos most of them are fake tan tv wannabes or toting themselves as business leaders which in this little green domain usually means small time tax criminal the rest come under
the general category of NIMBYS and NUMPTIES so my fellow citizen’s thank whatever deity you run to when the gick hits the fan that we dont vote by phone cos the one who can truly sing like Aretha looses cos her teeth are a bit funny and her dress was geeky.
Boring.
Socialist me arse!
Just to make this clear because neither this article, nor any of the previous reporting on this does. The President’s NUI Galway pension is one which he paid into over his years of working there and he is more than entitled to take what he earned. It isn’t just some form of State pension he’s receiving. Anyone working and paying contributions into a pension should have a right to access it when they become entitled to do so. Anything else would be little more than theft and isn’t a fair standard to hold anyone to.
@Adam Hurley: Greedy Git that’s what I call him, He just can’t have enough, Are all leprechauns the same?
Michael D : A La Carte socialist. When it suits him that is.
Ah yes. Give up your pension while serving. OK. Then give up any interest you draw on your savings. Right, right. Any investment income as well.
If you did the job you earned the pension. If you serve as president you earn the salary. There is no justification for stripping earned income from an office holder other than spite. We Irish don’t know anything about spite, now, do we?
If a person saves up for a pension through their contributions, as Michael D did in NUI Galway, why should he not take it when it matures? It’s his money.
Or should he pay it into some pot to give money to somebody who wasn’t so prudent?
All those on above average industrial wage pensions (€35,000) should give up their 2 additional WELFARE pensions ( PRSI pension plus one for the spouse = €24,000 welfare payment pa.)
All welfare pensions (PRSI and old age pensions) are paid by current taxpayers not from some “imaginary” pension fund! – the same taxpayers forced to pay MaxTax at €35,000 and who cant buy their own house – but pay the HAP and for social housing!.
Daft Irish stuff …. taxpayers codded up to thier eyeballs!!
Why no talk on presidential fees for past presidents.
Pieta house administration 5.4 million no one mentions this
Yes deffo give up pension
He’s probably a millionaire anyway
In fairness he should retire
And live a real life
For what he have left of it
Is he power hungry or what
HE don’t need the money
Current MEP receives €145000 per annum to cover salary and office expenses. Add to that about€ 50 k traveling and accommodation expenses the total package comes to €200,000. Please explain where Sinn Fein is coming from? They want to reduce the salary of the incoming President to about €100k. So in other words they feel that sitting in the European Parliament talking bullsh*t is of better value than that of the President. Come off it !
Only in ireland would year such non sense and maybe he should give his prior home to the homeless. Wake ye muckers.
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