By gosh, those TDs really work hard
It is the greatest display of irony and brass neck for a Government to seek to limit the holidays of Irish teachers when they themselves will enjoy almost 25 weeks off in the next Dáil term.
I write also to pre-empt the hoary old "constituency work" defence that TDs inevitably fall back on. Last spring I contacted all the Fianna Fáil deputies in my constituency, asking for their position on the then raging third-level fees debate.
Of the one that bothered to reply, I got a copy of Noel Dempsey's magic proposals that I had already downloaded from the department website and a generic cover letter with the TD's name on it.
Similarly, my mother contacted the other TD with a genuine concern regarding qualification for the third-level support grant. She was returned an application form we had already acquired ourselves from the county council.
Both of these functions could have been, and probably were, performed by an assistant this is constituency work. I'm delighted to see that those 25 weeks off and that 11.5% pay increase are well earned.
Declan Cashin,
Callan Road,
Kilkenny.
