TDs paid far more than MPs for less work

THE new year is just a fortnight old and many more Irish workers find themselves out of a job.

But there are 166 lucky Irish workers who haven’t returned from the holidays yet, haven’t lost their jobs and have not been docked pay... they are TDs.

In the lead-up to Christmas there was much discussion over the difference in euro and sterling prices for the same goods in the same shops.

So considering that the Irish parliamentary system is a copy of the British one, how do our TDs compare with MPs, and are we being ripped off in politics as much as we are in the shops?

In 2008, the Dáil sat for 97 days compared with 155 days for the House of Commons. The Commons sat for 19 four-day and 12 five-day weeks.

In contrast the Dáil only managed one lousy four-day week during 2008.

It must to nice for the increasing numbers of Irish workers on a three-day week to know their TDs have being doing just that on full pay for years.

Naturally, TDs will excuse their behaviour by saying they have to attend to constituency business and that rural TDs have long distances to travel.

But MPs have to attend to constituency business, too, and look at the distances that Scottish and Welsh MPs have to travel.

Also each TD has only an average of 25,500 constituents to attend to, but an MP has more than 94,000.

So if MPs sit 50% more days, have longer working weeks and shorter holidays, have nearly four times more constituents to look after and have to travel vastly longer distances, they must be on fantastic pay.

Well, an MP gets the sterling equivalent of around €70,000 compared to €105,000 for a TD; a British minister gets roughly €160,000 compared to €240,000 for an Irish minister and the Prime Minister earns €220,000 compared with €310,000 for the Taoiseach. We have a deepening financial crisis and there is much debate of late on radical cuts in public sector pay and numbers, more taxes on Irish workers and calls for patriotism as a solution.

But while TDs do less work for 50% more pay than MPs, they are just not entitled to participate in such debates and make demands on others.

So for the rest of January, I request all TDs to take a hard look at themselves in the mirror and ask if there shouldn’t be radical cuts in both the numbers and pay of Irish politicians.

As an example of how radical, perhaps politicians should be paid according to the number of days their parliament sits.

If an MP is paid €450 for each day the House of Commons sits, then a TD would have his salary cut by nearly 60% to €43,650.

Jason Fitzharris

Rivervalley

Swords

Co Dublin