Critical comments by Progressive Democrats TD, Ms Fiona O'Malley and Green Party TD, Mr Paul Gogarty, concerning the pay and expenses of Oireachtas members have infuriated their colleagues at Leinster House and caused the public to take notice.
Ms O'Malley has said she will not accept the second phase of an 11 per cent benchmarking award unless she can show she has earned it through longer working hours. And Mr Gogarty remarked that the Oireachtas expenses regime amounted to a "urination" on the less well-off in society.
The criticisms of these first-time TDs should not be dismissed as simple publicity stunts. The way the Houses of the Oireachtas conduct their business has been a source of public dismay for years. And it has contributed to the low esteem in which politicians are held. Although it is the Government that drives the agenda that results in a three-day Dáil sitting week, on about 26 weeks of the year, that outcome impacts negatively on the public perception of all members.
At a time when the Coalition Government is demanding modernisation and cutbacks within the public service, it must reform its own affairs. For many years, Ministers and Oireachtas members were poorly paid. One of the reasons was that their pay awards had to be ratified by the Dáil and Seanad. And governments were reluctant to annoy the electorate by proposing increases for themselves. The old system came to an end following the Buckley report of 1998. The pay of TDs and senators was increased substantially and linked to that of principal officers in the civil service. Since then, however, a range of new and generous allowances for additional Oireachtas responsibilities has been introduced. And the old expenses system, which was used to prop up inadequate salaries during hard times, has been left unreformed.
Mr Gogarty referred to this system of "unvouched expenses", under which some Oireachtas members can double their nominal salaries, in disparaging terms. He contrasted its casual operation with the vigour applied to policing welfare payments for the less well-off. And he argued that, because the system operated on the basis of trust, it should be tightened up. It is normal practice in any business to monitor the expense claims submitted by employees. Surely Oireachtas members do not wish to be treated any differently? They now have good salaries and allowances, generous tax-free expenses and established pay scales. If they refuse to recognise the need for reform, they are contributing to the mood of disillusion with the political system and alienating younger voters.