A chara, – I do not believe our TDs and Senators will demonstrate true leadership during Budget 2013, but I would strongly urge them to immediately abolish their unvouched expenses, radically reform their ludicrous pensions, take proper, not token, pay cuts and honestly evaluate every single euro of our taxpayers’ money they choose to spend.
It is extremely difficult to stomach, while they seek €77 million cuts in education, that they have increased their own 2013 Oireachtas budget by €4 million up to €112 million, without any debate. This disgraceful decision needs to be quickly reversed and their own budget needs to be continually reduced by millions over the coming years.
The 2013 Oireachtas budget includes more than €30 million for their salaries and expenses, but if our Government held the promised referendum on the future of our Seanad during 2012, instead of kicking yet another can down the road, then millions of euro would have been saved by its inevitable abolition.
Stephen Donnelly recently branded the Dáil “a joke of a parliament”, but the evidence shows that it is far more farcical than that. Our elected representatives need to start leading by example and doing the right thing because day by day Ireland is edging towards its very own tipping point. – Is mise,
Sir, – Is it not about that time when we hear if the Bundestag has approved the forthcoming budget (as has the case for the past two years), and if not , what amendments does it insist on? – Yours, etc,