Departing TDs have served the public as best they could

Monday evening’s announcement by Jackie Cahill that he would not be standing in the upcoming election to retain his Dáil seat came as a shock.

His confirmation the following morning that his retirement from representative politics was on medical advice led to a widespread outpouring of appreciation for his service and concern for his wellbeing.

While some choose to denigrate the state of our politics, collegiality among politicians who don’t agree on policy but who have respect for each other’s humanity and validity reflects well on our society.

Cahill is a likeable and well-liked man. Like most politicians, he is steeped in the area he comes from, never happier than at a match in Semple Stadium, or at a meeting at Thurles racecourse or the town’s greyhound track.

While he entered party politics relatively late in life, becoming a county councillor in his 50s before entering the Dáil two years later, he had a lifetime of service to his community. Those in farming circles know him from his involvement in ICMSA, where he served as president from 2005 to 2011, having been deputy president for the previous six years.

During his term as ICMSA president, he also held the position of chair of Thurles Co-op, successfully steering the merger with Centenary, where he still sits on the (admittedly enormous) board.

In combining national and local representation, both as a farm leader and a politician, Jackie Cahill is not the exception, but rather is typical of the people who populate our Dáil and Seanad.

On Saturday, Heather Humphreys also announced she would not seek a seat in the next Dáil.

Some were quick to seize on her statement that she would be nearly 70 by the end of that Dáil’s full term, contrasting it with her increasing the age at which the State pension starts. That might seem contradictory, but few jobs demand as much of people as that of public representation in Ireland.

For a rural TD like Humphreys, who also is a Government minister, the schedule is gruelling, and takes its toll.

That said, perhaps there needs to be a look at whether TDs and other politicians should be immediately eligible for pensions on departing public life.

We need young people in politics, but it seems incongruous that someone can retire after 10 years as a TD and receive one-quarter of their annual salary as a pension for the rest of their life.

That currently would amount to €28,419.75 a year, higher than the average farm income. A TD first elected at 21 would be able to retire at 31 with this in their back pocket for the rest of their lives.

And some people say the country can’t afford a farm retirement scheme...