TDs’ three-day week is not value for money

IT is the third week of January and while most of us are back at work, our TDs are still on holiday. They claim to work hard, so how do they compare with, say, MPs in Britain?

In 2006 the Dáil sat for 96 days, compared with 138 days for the House of Commons. The Dáil working week is typically Tuesday to Thursday, compared with Monday to Thursday for the House of Commons, which also sometimes sits on Fridays.

In 2006 the Dáil sat for only two four-day weeks and no five-day weeks. In comparison, the House of Commons sat for 21 four-day weeks and eight five-day weeks.

TDs claim they have to attend to their constituents, and the committees sit during recess. British MPs also have to attend to their constituents and their committees sit during recess, yet they still manage to work more days. Also, a TD has an average of 23,600 constituents to look after, whereas an MP has an average of 93,300.

The excuse for the three-day week is that rural TDs need to travel further to get home. But what about Welsh and Scottish MPs? Look how far they have to travel.

TDs claim they are great value for money. Consider: a British MP sits an extra 40 days, has a longer working week and shorter holidays, has nearly four times the number of constituents, and has to travel vastly longer distances.

For all that, their basic salary is €88,500. In contrast a TD’s basic salary is €93,000. That’s right, Irish TDs get paid more for working less. It’s no surprise our Taoiseach is a socialist.

A TD’s job is to enact laws, supervise the Government, and control the finances of the State. These can only be done in the Dáil and when the Dáil is sitting. It he or she is not in the Dáil, or if the Dáil is not sitting, then a TD is simply not at work.

Dáil candidates fight hard to win a Dáil seat, a seat they claim to need to properly represent our interests. So why are they so reluctant to sit in the Dáil then? If they are not sitting in the Dáil, how can they be representing our interests?

TDs claim that if they spend too much time in the Dáil, and not enough time in their constituency, they won’t get re-elected. Are TDs seriously saying that if you win a Dáil seat, you shouldn’t sit in it? Isn’t that called abstentionism? Wasn’t that failed policy abandoned in the 1920s?

Jason FitzHarris

Rivervalley

Swords

Co Dublin