Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
OUR POLITICIANS PAY themselves well in excess of what they ought to receive.
This isn’t based on some fancy notion of fairness, but on hard evidence to be found in salary surveys. The Real Pay Petition launched this week is calling for politicians to reduce their pay in line with jobs in the real world.
A TD earns 35 per cent more than, for example, a quality control manager in a pharmaceutical company; a well trained individual responsible for ensuring that a packet of Panadol doesn’t put you into hospital. TDs actually earn what most senior directors in businesses do, like operations or marketing directors. People who have commercial responsibilities. What does a TD do? Show up and vote as they’re told and look after their constituency.
Compare the pay of a government minister to that of your average company managing director: The minister earns 41 per cent more. What does a minister, who already has a professional staff of civil servants looking after the department, do that deserves that premium?
It may be mentioned that in the private sector bonuses are paid on top of basic pay. But bonuses are rarely paid when a company is in the financial receivership of a bailout, or while substantial cutbacks are being made. Perhaps ministers should be financially rewarded for good performance, and during the boom the rising pay of politicians could be said to have been such a reward. Today, with massive unemployment and cuts to frontline services, that’s not appropriate.
When our new government came to power it reduced the pay of ministers. Rather than a pay cut this was really less of a pay increase for those being promoted from the basic TD’s salary of €92,672 to the mere €169,275 a minister receives today. The Taoiseach cut his pay to €200,000 per year, down substantially on the €310,000 Bertie Ahern proposed to pay himself in his final days in the office.
Compared to Ahern, Taoiseach Kenny looks frugal. But he still earns more than the Prime Minister of Britain, David Cameron, and a host of other leaders of nations far larger and less bust than Ireland.
There have been many sickening moments for ordinary citizens to endure since the beginning of the crisis in 2008, but among the least edifying for our body politik as a near whole was watching them fight no harder than for their own pay, expenses and pensions when Brian Lenihan proposed a change to the regime.
Backbench politicians and senior frontbenchers alike were rubber stamping budgets and laws to strip SNAs from schools, pensions from blind people and nurses from hospitals. But at the first mention of vouched expenses or an attack on their salaries and pensions the backs were up.
Our new government has not lifted a finger to the gravy train expenses system. The Taoiseach, Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Sector Expenditure and Reform – supposedly the spearhead of ‘doing things differently’ – are among those who don’t provide receipts for their expenses. The government blocked a move in the Seanad to mandate that independent Senators vouch for their €23,000 per year Leaders Allowance.
The Revenue Commissioners would treat any ordinary person claiming expenses without receipts as a fraud, trying to hide income. Revenue also states that no person may receive tax free expenses for the purpose of travelling to their place of work. Tell that to TDs, who collect an allowance for just such a purpose.
Dublin based TDs receive €12,000 a year to travel to Leinster House, conveniently located in Dublin 2. TDs from further afield receive more, up to a maximum of €37,850 per year, to travel to and stay in Dublin. It makes sense to give money to a TD who travels a great distance to Dublin for accommodation, but when the basic amount is set at €12,000 for those who live twenty minutes up the road it has to be asked if the allowances aren’t too lavish. Certainly there should be receipts for every mile travelled.
There are members of the Oireachtas, such as those from Sinn Fein and the Socialist Party, who say that they only take the average industrial wage of €36,000 per year. This is of no advantage to the taxpayer, however, as they give the balance of their salary to their parties to spend campaigning for votes.
They’re also not shy about taking expenses: Gerry Adams took nearly €50,000 in 2011 and Dublin-based Mary Lou McDonald €32,000 in expenses. The Socialist Party leader Joe Higgins took €24,500 and People Before Profit’s Richard Boyd Barrett €32,000. It should be said that at least these four vouched for their ample expenses.
The proposal to reduce the pay of politicians is not based on a race to the bottom, or reverse auction politics of offering to do more work for less pay as the presidential election seemed to become at times. This campaign is benchmarking politicians against real work done in the real world: What do politicians do, and what do people with analogous responsibilities or qualifications get for doing that work.
Politicians are continuing to preside over massive cutbacks to services and tax increases. They do not have the moral authority to do so when they are not prepared to touch their own pay, expenses or conditions. Real leaders should be the first, not last, people to take the hardships of austerity.
It’s time for politicians to take a fair share. If you agree, sign the petition. RealPay.ie.
Aaron McKenna is the organiser of the Real Pay Petition. You can contact him via aaronmckenna.com or on twitter @aaronmckenna.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
About time a campaign on this matter was started. May I add the ‘early pension’ to it too. We’re all being told that the age for state pensions is going up, it’ll be age 70 to 75 by the time I retire. Yet our TDs get MASSIVE pensions from as early as age 50. One example would be Ivan Yates’ €83,000 a year and he’s only 53!!!!
That is just crazy and has to stop!! This campaign will have my full support and not just by clicking some online poll either.
dead right on the pensions front. ridiculous. they should need to be retirement age to draw one
Well said!
Is Enda Kenny not also receiving a Ministerial pension, while holding the office of Taoiseach? Is he not also paying himself 50,000 euro per year on top of that again, as a party leader? Is Gilmore not paying himself 23,000 per year as a party leader also? They are robbed of morality, if think this is justifiable. I call it financial terrorism.
Check out Cowens pension €153k per year for the rest of his life ‘retired’ at 51…..
Early political pensions have been ended as far as I know. Maximum pension should be 75k. More than enough.
Is funny how we have allowed this ??????? to go on for that long..they change the law to suite them and tell us we going thru a recession…..they are all the same,they dont care about the country,they only care about their big fat paycheck..
Our country is a joke we put up with to much shit from the government. They say jump and we say how hi, it’s about time we stick up for what’s right for us. The money they are getting in government is sicking and yet they would take money off the old age pensioner and not drop the wages in the government.
Cap Ministers salaries at 100k. That’s it. No TD’s salary on top. Contributory pensions as well. By all means they can have vouched expenses. The old argument of big salaries attracting the brightest hasn’t worked so far. In this country, “pay peanuts, get monkeys” does not apply….
More like…the more nuts you give the bigger the monkey you get.
Or in Phil Hogan’s case…the bigger the Ape you get!!!
Great points. Agree with most. I have one nitpick. Why should TDs get expenses to show up to work? They work in D2 and vote along party lines so why do they need to travel back to their old homes and more importantly why should it be funded by the tax payer? Let them claim for vouched public transport only. No one should get paid to go to work.
Hi Mór – My view is that Dublin TDs should get nothing, but TDs from further out should get vouched expenses for the actual cost of accommodation in Dublin and travel to it. Again, to come back to the real world, if a person works in, say, Cork but is sent to Dublin regularly (in this case, when the Dáil sits) they would be compensated for that.
Of course, most companies put limits on what you can spend and demand receipts. My view is that when the basic rate for such travel starts at €12k for those who live in Dublin, the guys on the west coast are probably getting too much as well versus the real cost of coming to and staying in Dublin while living in a constituency far away.
This may be an elementary point but the Irish State is not a company.
Alan, of course not. But the vast majority of people in a job work for private companies, and they are the best yardstick of salaries and conditions. And in relation to expenses, Revenue guidelines for everyone who’s not a politician (no travel to work money, no unvouched expenses) are a good guide also.
“they are the best yardstick of salaries and conditions.”
You have started off with this assumption and is taken for granted that how a private business is run can be applied to how a State operates with regards to its employees and how they are paid.
Why do you think that what happens in private sector businesses can or should apply to the State?
Alan, the private sector is where salaries are set for the majority of individuals based on what qualifications and responsibilities are worth, given their supply and the demand for them. It takes into account things like consumer prices and standards of living. What yardstick would you use?
Alan, why are you arguing. The country should be run as tight as a private company. Why don’t you provide a solid argument on why the management of our country shouldn’t be compared to the private sector before you go criticising the author of this article.
You will have a lot more dislikes by the end of this day…
A move like this would certainly enable politicians to empathise with the electorate on the cuts and increases they vote for. As we can see from Mahon, the argument that politicos need to be well paid in order to dissuade them from corruption doesn’t wash
Just wait and see what the government say in response to this report! You’ll hear stuff like “remuneration has to be high, so as to attract the best people into politics” I mean people like Phil Hogan and Lucinda Creighton! Enough said!
Exactly, Aaron. Their remit is to serve the public, not fleece them.
Great article
The old maxim comes to my mind: Do as I say, not what I do.
Why stop at politicians?
Let’s have benchmarking again for all public servants as soon as the Croke Park con expires.
Screw the contract, let’s do it now.
Politician = Egotistical, over paid, repulsive pension rate, self serving, often corrupt and grossly incompetent. Can be seen around town with a brown paper bag. Time for some new definitions.
Should be term limits, serve 2 terms then you are out on your ear. Career politicians feather their own nests before they consider the public.
Good piece Aaron. Articulates my reasons for not paying the household charge. The “do as I say not as I do” approach of this government.
High time the gravy train was permanently derailed. The more they are paid, the less representation we get
extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.everyone of these parasites should be sacked imediately & bring in someone like michael o leary or someone with a proven track record in business to run the country.michael noonan is a teacher by profession & yet he is the minister for finance???? need i say more.no wonder we are a laughing stock around the world
€12000.to travel to work thats a disgrace. dont give then anything and put then up in a hotel and give the money directly to the hotel that they allowed to be built and some that had to close down. with a basic salary of €92000.
they still recieve up to€12000. and they have the neck to dip into our wages every time they want to fill the public purse. cap them all at €100000.for everything salary ,travel expense cleaning expenses, how much would that save, more importantly how much would they shout then.
Do as i say not as i do, thats the impression i get from our so called leaders
Ministers should be payed according to there qualifications ie if they are a teacher then pay them as a teacher even at top rate because if they become a minister for finance for example the are going to have to rely on advisers to run there department . This may attract better qualified people into government if they are payed accordingly
nicely written. bit on the populist slant but well argued and tastefully written.
i really wouldnt have so much of a problem wit all this money if they did a reasonable job.
I would
Irish population 4.58 million (Census 2011 Preliminary Results)
British population 62,262,000 million (Office of National Stastistics 2010)
im not suggedtin for a second that the pay rates are defensible. just that they might be if more of these people were fit for purpose, and i honestly think the bigger issue should be these unvouched expenses, at least in the meantime. tackle that, then the rates of pay.
Ministerial and TD salaries should be benchmarked against their equivalents in countries of similar size and per capita GDP.
All unvouched exenses and all allowances should be taxed as income as happens in the private sector. The Leaders allowance should be limited to the leaders of a party with a minimum of 10% of seats in the Dail.
There should be no additional political payments for independent TDs. It gives them an unfair advantage over potential independent opponents.
I forgot Pensions. These should be limited to 1/60th of their average annual salary, whilst Dail members, for each year of service whilst in the Dail. Payment to commence on retirement but not before reaching age 60. No public representative or servant should be permitted to draw a pension of any description, whilst receiving any other remuneration from the State or it’s agencies.
No, 60 is not good enough when they are trying to push retirement up to between 70 to 75. The pension entitlement should be at 65 now, and have it move up as the state pension does.
The old maxim comes to mind: Do what I say, not what I do.
So good a comment you said it twice!
All potential tds are attracted to the dail for the power and perks,nothing to do with representing the little guy!..look at that poor rte chap who tried to clear out the cobwebs,his office was a broom cupboard and he was handed a broom to sweep his ‘patch’..no wonder he baled out..
It’s the pensions that get me, their pay doesn’t bother me hugely as I think there is more to the job of a TD then just turning up to vote and looking after your constituency.
How can you justify Enda getting paid more than barrak Obama!!
We can talk about it until the cows come home but the status quo WILL BE MAINTAINED………..
You can be damn sure if TD’s salaries were not at the ridiculous high levels that they are, there wouldn’t be 166 of them. There would be a lot less politicians if salaries were in line with average wages. TD’s being public servants, self servants more like…
The peasant is the foundation of the state and must be governed with care. He must be allowed neither too much, nor too little, but just enough rice to live on and keep for seed in the following year. The remainder must be taken from him in tax. ~Honda Masanobu (1590–1616)
Well said! I so agree.
enda and the gang should try living on 200 social welfare for a year,over 4000 euro a week he takes off us. this 36000 euro average industrial wage some lies its the public service is setting that average wage not all us stuck in factorys or shops earning minimum wage and only dreaming to be able to reach that so called average wage .
There is nothing average about the average wage.
A single person on disability getting maximum rent allowance for sharing with no kids gets less per year than they get in travel expenses within Dublin!
I can see it now..
Aaron McKenna is also a fully fledged member of the Socialist Party and is a close confidante of Joe Higgins TD and Councillor Ruth Coppinger. This opinion piece is therefore partisan and biased. Do members of other political parties get to write for TheJournal.ie?
Did you read the whole article before coming to the conclusion it’s biased?
Aron McKenna wrote
“There are members of the Oireachtas, such as those from Sinn Fein and the Socialist Party, who say that they only take the average industrial wage of €36,000 per year. This is of no advantage to the taxpayer, however, as they give the balance of their salary to their parties to spend campaigning for votes.”
Well, that comes as news to me! And the socialist party too, I’m sure. Being a member of the business community I’m one of the first people who’d be sent to a gulag if Marxists came to power in Ireland.
You’re probably mixing up my work on the Defend Blanchardstown Hospital campaign, which I coordinate, with being a Trot. I don’t think defending services in your local hospital marks you as a communist.
In actual fact, I worked for Shane Ross during the last election. He and I would probably share a firing squad during the purge following Ireland’s transformation into a socialist paradise.
Is is u who set up the real pay website ? I added myself to it. Fair play to u, Aaron. It’s a start & best of luck. Why exactly is our Taoiseach getting paid more than the US President ? Shouldn’t be the case & where is the Troika in all of this ?
Ooops saoirseabu ;) Excellent piece aaron, well done.
It is incredible to think that “Pay me a huge sum or I’ll engage in criminal activity (bribery and corruption)” is the underlying reasoning behind their salaries.
Is it the case that if we don’t pay, they’ll simply steal it? If so, why are they stealing it NOW? Can we get a rebate?
I support this campaign but I think the website needs some changes. They need links to allow people to post a link to their social networks(+1, facebook thumbs up, twitte, etc) otherwise it may not reach enough people. A good example of this is the SOPA Ireland petition.
Looking good now
It is clear to me that they current lot of Tds, including, independents will not budge on the politicians pay issue. So what can we do? Short of an army takeover, we are stuck. Could a peaceful revolution occur? I doubt it, the garda would be told to smash real civil disobedience, so we will get violence even if the people don’t start it if real change is attempted. Maybe so historians can tell of cases where the ruling class has been ousted without chaos.
Reminds me of the court of louis the 15th, now bear with me….he tried too implement tax reforms by taxing the clergy and noble men who were previously untaxed. but the only votes in favour he got was from the commoners who were citizens of merit. The proposal was massively out voted and so paved the way for the french revolution…..politicians be warned, just because turkeys don’t vote for christmas doesn’t mean that the chickens won’t come home to roost.
I can see it now Niamh. Yerself and Robespeirre lining ‘em up for the chop.
Heehee john you know I have spent my hhc money on this, now its just a case biding my time….
http://www.google.ie/m/search?hl=en&client=ms-android-hms-vf-ie&gl=ie&biw=320&bih=295&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Irish+Guillotine+funny&oq=Irish+Guillotine+funny&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=3&gs_upl=185546l185664l0l186326l3l2l0l0l0l0l155l155l0.1l1l0&gs_l=mobile-gws-serp.3…185546l185664l0l186326l3l2l0l0l0l0l155l155l0j1l1l0.frgbld.&mvs=0#i=4
Nice model! Mine has got a slight curvature to the cutting edge for a cleaner slice and is of a slightly more robust mechanism. None-the-less your model seems light and transportable, ideal for the revolutionary on the move!
Well intentioned but misguided. The central problem in Ireland is that all the incentives are out of synch with the requirements of private enterprise. The state has created enormous incentives for young people to enter law – tribunals, NAMA, numerous compensation schemes, huge ‘free’ legal aid fees. Likewise the fees earned by the big accounting firms doing government work bear little relation to what private companies are prepared to pay. Salaries and pensions in the public service, third level, semi states are a couple of gears up from what employers can afford – and anyone thinking the Chinese are going to hand out dosh to keep the gravy flowing, they are mistaken.
Vouch the damn expenses! Then move the Dail to the midlands, so it is centrally located to all corners of the island.. Somewhere with a good, road and rail links, and build barrack accomodation for the feckers. Wait! Isn’t the government nuclear bomb shelter in Athlone? Perfect.
have your say