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McLoughlin's €53,000 'seat-resigning' payment

Sligo/Nth Leitrim Fine gael TD Tony McLoughlin received a gratuity payment of over €53,000 from the cash strapped Sligo County Council for simply resigning his council seat along with his seat on Sligo Borough Council.

The "retirement gratuities" were made despite the councillors taking up the lucrative positions in the Dail, where the starting salary for a TD is €92,000 a year.

The Sligo TD's daughter took over his seat on the county council while party colleague Daniel McGarrigle was co-opted to his borough council seat.

Both will have to face the electorate to retain the seats in the 2014 local elections.

According to the Irish Independent, fellow constituency TD, Sinn Féin's Michal Colreavey received €38,708. A Sinn Fein spokeswoman said their TDs did not give the payment to the party, but that this did not conflict with its policy that no member should earn more than the average industrial wage.

"As a once-off payment, the party does not believe that this conflicts with Sinn Fein wage policy," she said.

The gratuity sums are taxable and based on years of service in local authorities.

While most were unapologetic about taking the payments, others said they should be reviewed or even scrapped.

The payments were introduced by the Fianna Fail/PD government in 2002 as compensation for the lack of pension for councillors, who get part-time salaries.

Mr McLoughlin, who was a member of Sligo County Council from 1974, said his €53,259.39 payment was "in accordance with the regulations".

He was asked if he considered the retirement gratuity payment appropriate, given that he wasn't retiring, but didn't address the question.

One former councillor who was paid a €38,700 gratuity -- Labour TD Eamonn Maloney -- said he twice refused the payment but South Dublin County Council insisted he take it.

He said he would be "very surprised" if Environment Minister Phil Hogan didn't scrap the payments in his forthcoming review of local government.