Perks for deputies - This is not leading by example

Nobody likes paying taxes, but there is a saying that taxes and death are two certainties in life.

We elect deputies to Dáil Éireann to provide leadership and it should not be unreasonable to expect that they would lead by example, but we have been getting some bad examples.

The country’s five independent deputies will each receive more than €39,000 a year from the Party Leaders’ Allowance, on top of their other allowances, expenses, and annual salaries. This is essentially an extra perk, that is about €5,000 more than the industrial wage average, but the five independents — Tony Gregory, Beverly Flynn, Michael Lowry, Jackie Healy-Rae and Finian McGrath — will not have to pay tax on this money, or even have to explain how they spend it.