More than 250 former TDs and senators were each paid basic pensions worth up to €69,000 last year, at a cost to the state of upwards of €8m, the Sunday Tribune has learned. The payments are separate from any ministerial or other pensions they may have accrued over the years, which have been the subject of significant political controversy in recent months.

Among those who received tens of thousands of euro was disgraced former minister Ray Burke, who received a TD's pension worth around €52,000 last year, as well as several others who have gone on to take up lucrative jobs elsewhere.

These include the €231,000-a-year EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, who received more than €52,000, former president and independent senator Mary Robinson (€36,500), and former Fine Gael TD and bookmaker Ivan Yates (€41,000).

Oireachtas members are required to serve just two years before becoming entitled to a payment, with some eligible to receive a reduced pension as early as their 45th birthday.

Former PD leader Michael McDowell, who returned to his career as a barrister after losing his seat in 2007, received €31,000 last year, while his former party colleague, Liz O'Donnell, was paid more than €25,000, a list supplied by the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission reveals.

Meanwhile, one of the government's two appointees to the board of Anglo Irish Bank, former Fine Gael leader Alan Dukes, who now works as a PR consultant, received a basic TD's pension of almost €54,000.

Former minister Pádraig Flynn claimed a pension worth more than €40,000, while the multi-millionaire former senator Edward Haughey, now known as Lord Ballyedmond, was paid €13,000.

His fellow former senator (and former TD) Maurice Manning, who is the €237,000-a-year president of the Irish Human Rights Commission, received more than €45,000.

Former Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins, who lost his seat in the last election, was paid a pension worth more than €26,000, while former Fianna Fáil finance minister Ray MacSharry netted a total of €52,000.

Former taoiseach John Bruton, who is the current EU ambassador to the US, received more than €52,000 in pension entitlements from his years as a TD, as did his fellow former Fine Gael taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald. Former taoiseach Albert Reynolds, received a similar amount, as did the former Labour party leader and tánaiste Dick Spring.

Construction Industry Federation chief Tom Parlon received €12,000, the list reveals.

A spokesman for the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission said TDs and senators must serve two years to be entitled to a pension, to which they contribute 6% of their gross salary.

"To get a full pension, you must be aged 50; a reduced pension can be payable between 45 and 49," he said. "Members elected after 1 April 2004 cannot get a pension until age 65."

He confirmed that the payments in question are separate from any other pension entitlements, such as ministerial pensions. They also receive their payments irrespective of other employment they might have entered into, he added.

According to the list of payments to Oireachtas pensioners last year, a total of 251 beneficiaries received €8.44m in 2008.

The three top earners were all former TDs: Richard Barry, Peter Barry and Liam Cosgrave (senior), all of whom received more than €69,000 in pension payments last year. In one case, former member Jack Fitzsimons received more than €150,000, a figure which included arrears of some €138,000.

Sitting MEPs also feature on the list of Oireachtas pensioners.

Earlier this month, three MEPs – Eoin Ryan, Gay Mitchell and Proinsias de Rossa – announced they had agreed to forgo their ministerial and TD pension entitlements. MEP Marian Harkin also announced she was forgoing her combined teacher and TD pension.

Oireachtas Pensions What some of our former TDs and senators received last year

David Andrews €52,213

Niamh Bhreathnach €11,374

John Bruton €52,587

Ray Burke €52,213

Gerard Collins €52,213

Liam Cosgrave

(senior) €69,614

Conor Cruise O'Brien €23,804

(died December 2008)

Proinsias De Rossa €52,213

Sile De Valera €31,879

Barry Desmond €52,213

Avril Doyle €47,271

Alan Dukes €53,906

Garret FitzGerald €52,213

Pádraig Flynn €40,640

Roger Garland €8,465

Marian Harkin €42,762

Edward Haughey €13,273

Maurice Hayes €13,589

Mary Henry €12,268

Joe Higgins €26,385

Patrick Hillery €15,917

(died April 2008)

Ray Mac Sharry €52,213

Maurice Manning €45,743

Charlie McCreevy €52,213

Michael McDowell €31,013

Marian Mc Gennis €22,988

Gay Mitchell €56,365

Robert Molloy €52,213

Liz O'Donnell €25,417

Desmond O'Malley €56,688

Nora Owen €48,608

Tom Parlon €12,324

Albert Reynolds €52,213

Mary Robinson €36,549

Eoin Ryan €50,005

Dick Spring €52,213

Ivan Yates €41,145