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About LinkBacksregardless of who says it or the chances of it happening, it is a great idea that should apply to all members of the oireachtas and the civil service.
regardless of who says it or the chances of it happening, it is a great idea that should apply to all members of the oireachtas and the civil service.
When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators
Could he not be trying to test the water as to whether such a measure would have support? Doing this in a public forum could lead to the sort of groundswell required even if the government would not favour the measure.Originally Posted by pfkf
Why shouldn't backbenchers try to get noticed? It's not like the media will cover them if they send out press releases agreeing with the government all the time. And who knows, they might actually have a good idea from time to time.
“Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen” - Albert Einstein
Let's put this in perspective. All Green Party TDs are required to sign a pledge and give 20% of their salaries to the Party. A Party which does not accept corporate donations. Sinn Féin deputies also donate the maximum allowed to their party and donate the rest to local constituency organisations.
If they are willing to take a hit on this, then a TD making a proposal such as this in an individual capacity would most certainly be willing to support it.
Gogarty made a proposal a few years back about Oireachtas members foregoing a large pay increase. He spoke about it on Q102 about an hour ago.
As well as being a Green TD who donates large amounts of money back to the party rather than to fund his own lifestyle, Paul Gogarty:
1) Gave up 1,200 euro of his salary as a gesture when his calls for a pay freeze went unheeded by Oireachtas members
2) Much more significantly, along with a number of Party colleagues who opposed to the dual mandate, he forewent a 12,000 euro 'sweetener' payable to TDs and Senators who gave up their Council seats within a specific timeframe.
Call that spineless if you will, but it certainly is putting your money where your mouth is. He wasn't afraid to call a scum a scum and certainly wouldn't be proposing such a cut if he wasn't willing to take it...
Now, whether Brian Lenihan will have the courage to introduce this proposal is another story. Particularly when Enda Kenny already got tongue twisted on the radio earlier this evening when asked if he was willing to set an example and give up some of his salary.
The measure for the sacking of junior ministers, which i agree with by the way, came later and was clearly a face-saving exercise
it'd make me feel a bit better, as I try to get my head around 6% in two years, anyway,
Hello PaulLet's put this in perspective. All Green Party TDs are required to sign a pledge and give 20% of their salaries to the Party. A Party which does not accept corporate donations. Sinn Féin deputies also donate the maximum allowed to their party and donate the rest to local constituency organisations.
If they are willing to take a hit on this, then a TD making a proposal such as this in an individual capacity would most certainly be willing to support it.
Gogarty made a proposal a few years back about Oireachtas members foregoing a large pay increase. He spoke about it on Q102 about an hour ago.
As well as being a Green TD who donates large amounts of money back to the party rather than to fund his own lifestyle, Paul Gogarty:
1) Gave up 1,200 euro of his salary as a gesture when his calls for a pay freeze went unheeded by Oireachtas members
2) Much more significantly, along with a number of Party colleagues who opposed to the dual mandate, he forewent a 12,000 euro 'sweetener' payable to TDs and Senators who gave up their Council seats within a specific timeframe.
Call that spineless if you will, but it certainly is putting your money where your mouth is. He wasn't afraid to call a scum a scum and certainly wouldn't be proposing such a cut if he wasn't willing to take it...
Now, whether Brian Lenihan will have the courage to introduce this proposal is another story. Particularly when Enda Kenny already got tongue twisted on the radio earlier this evening when asked if he was willing to set an example and give up some of his salary.
The measure for the sacking of junior ministers, which i agree with by the way, came later and was clearly a face-saving exercise
A cheap publicity stunt by Gogarty.
This is the same guy who said he wouldn't accept his pay increase a couple of years ago and went ahead and accepted 2 increases since then.
This is the same guy who referred to bankers as "scum" or "scumbags" in the Dáil last week. Now I have no grá for bankers but using language like that in the Dáil is designed for headline grabbing and nothng else.
If he was serious about it perhaps he could have gone to Gormley or Ryan and asked them to propose it at a cabinet meeting.
This man doesn't belong in a local borough, let alone the Oireachtas.
TDs should be on the average industrial wage. Ministers on twice that. Taosieach on twice that again. Scrap all junior ministers and no extra pay for committee positions. Now that would be setting an example.
Was sick of all the bad news so tuned into Q102 for some cheesy pop....too long listening to Mozza et al and wanted something cheery. Then I heard the interview with Paul Gogarty. He sounds like a kid. He had no idea how much it would cost, how much would be saved, whether it would go against benchmarking....he just wanted to show private business that they put their money where their mouth is.
I hate to break it to him but I don't think private business ever take their cues from politicians.
it was populist posturing by Gogarty, nothing more, as Enda Kenny pointed out on Matt Cooper yesterday. The guy is part of a government who have presided over enormous waste of taxpayer's money and here he is acting as if he's in opposition.
I used to think FF were the masters of this kind of bi-location but the Greens have shown remarkable talent for speaking out of both sides of their mouth.
They seem to think they can have it both ways, enjoying all the advantages that being in government has to offer but railing against it from the outside as well.
Totally agree. When the presenter on Q102 catches you out then you know there is something wrong. I can imagine that Matt or George probably tore him a new a**hole over the suggestion. The guy on Q102 is easy going and he even tripped up Paul Gogarty.
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