TDs' gravy train
The news that TDs have been paid another staggering amount in expenses -- about €6m -- should come as no surprise to an electorate that has become wearyingly accustomed to paying other people's bills.
Not content with one of the largest pay packets among their peer groups in Europe, our TDs continue to utilise an obscene expenses regime which allows them to claim up to €15,000 unvouched from the public purse.
If all 166 TDs claimed this amount in such undocumented payments, this would run to €2,490,000 annually and Irish citizens would have no opportunity to scrutinise or inspect such claims for probity or scale.
In addition to this, the chairs of Oireachtas committees are rewarded with an extra €10,000 on top of their parliamentary salaries of €92,000.
It is to be hoped that the review into members' allowances being conducted by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform will at the very least put an end to this outmoded and completely inappropriate regime of unvouched expenses.
In addition, every member of the Oireachtas should be compelled to publish an online account of their (fully vouched) expense claims on a monthly basis.
Given the scale of cuts foisted on lower-paid employees in both the public and private sectors, it is unacceptable for the Oireachtas to go on living in an alternative universe.
Dr John O'Brennan
Department of Sociology, National University of Ireland Maynooth
Irish Independent
