Sir, - Our "employees" who work in Leinster House are hoping to receive a raise of £10,000, bringing the yearly salary of your local TD up to more than £43,000.
Consider for a moment the hypocrisy of politicians in Dail Eireann who regularly launch attacks on the unemployed and other low income groups, while they themselves rake in money from sources other than their already hefty Dail salaries. To hear these people when they stand up and castigate an already impoverished section of the community who may try to earn some extra undeclared money while in receipt of social welfare, is laughable. They are talking about small sums and a tiny minority, yet the politicians behave as if the unemployed are a shifty, suspect class, whose main occupation is malingering and "living the good life" at the expense of the State. I have never met an unemployed person who would not wish to have a worthwhile job in exchange for a life on the dole.
It is not unheard of for TDs to even accuse unwed mums of being "spongers". A single mum receives £77 weekly to feed and clothe herself and her baby. This comes to £4,000 yearly. Readers can decide whether they are living in luxury, or barely surviving in a life of crushing underprivilege.
Let's be honest about it. The double standards of those we elect to represent us is sickening. Alright for them to declare they want a massive £10,000 extra per year, while at the same time tormenting the unemployed with threats and surveillance by the Department of Social Welfare.
The injustice suffered by the poor is never a factor when politicians are scrounging for votes, so they believe it is safe to scapegoat them when they self righteously deplore the drain the welfare budget has on the State's resources. No party elected to the Dail next time will be any different. Getting elected means a ticket to personal advancement. Little else. - Yours, etc.,
Glengarriff Road,
Bantry,
Co Cork.