DONEGAL NORTH-EAST TD Jim McDaid will receive over a quarter of a million euro in the next twelve months as retirement bonuses in recognition of his 21 years as a deputy, according to reports this morning.

Today’s Irish Times reports that the TD, who announced his immediate retirement on Wednesday leaving the government with a Dáil majority of just three, is entitled to an immediate tax-free lump sum on the termination of his employment, with a further 12 monthly payments to be paid over the next year.

After those are paid, McDaid will be given a tax-free lump sum equivalent to 150% of his TD’s salary – an average of €112,000 – before beginning to receive his ordinary TD’s pension worth half of his current salary.

The paper says that the most recent scheme for termination entitlements means a TD with 21 years’ service is entitled to an immediate tax-free payment of €17,763.

The twelve monthly top-ups to this amount will be paid at three-quarters of his current monthly wage (i.e.€6,625) for the first six months, and half of the current wage (€4,416) for the remaining six months.

Once those payments have been finished, McDaid will be entitled to withdraw his ordinary TD’s pension of €53,000 per year, with an advance payment of 18 months’ worth of his salary: a massive €159,000.

On top of all of these payments, McDaid – who served as Minister for Sport, Tourism and Recreation between 1997 and 2002, and as a junior minister at the Department of Transport for two years thereafter – will continue to receive his ministerial pension of €22,487.

McDaid refused to give up his pension last April when the government encouraged former ministers to forego such pensions while still in office as a TD, saying that while he did not agree with his entitlement to such payments, he did not believe the government should bow to media pressure on forcing former ministers to give them up.