TDs "Expenses"

Aviator55

It was cunning how they sneaked through the new system the day the papers were filled with the US President.
For anyone in business, "expenses have to be vouched and wholly, exclusively and necessarily for the purposes of the trade."
TDs get unvouched handouts on top of their lavish salaries just for turning up. Although, at least under the new system, it appears that they will have to turn up rather than just pretend to turn up, as was formerly the case.
Roll on that politicians and civil servants have to put up with the same salaries, pensions and allowances ad the public.
Of course, poor old Barak is still be paid less than Biffo.

gurramok

Good point, its not even on the RTE website and i never even knew until i read your post!

Story here from the Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0121/1232474671015.html

ednwireland

its a good start but something done loads more to do springs to mind they shouldnt get unvouched expenses full stop, i'm just doing mine and havent got meal receipts for some so i dont get the money.

jellybeans

Ive just been told that I have to pay the 200 euro parking levy despite the fact that I work in what could be described as a Dublin City suberb and despite the fact that regardless of the fact that you may or may not actually get a parking spot. I dont mind doing my bit to help the country out of this mess but I do resent the government officials who are parking pretty much in the heart of the city and who have made themselves exempt!!!

pigeonbutler

jellybeans wrote: »

Ive just been told that I have to pay the 200 euro parking levy despite the fact that I work in what could be described as a Dublin City suberb and despite the fact that regardless of the fact that you may or may not actually get a parking spot. I dont mind doing my bit to help the country out of this mess but I do resent the government officials who are parking pretty much in the heart of the city and who have made themselves exempt!!!

You were told wrong. The parking levy law hasn't been commenced yet and there is still no certainty over what areas will be included.

And finally government officials are not exempt. Garda and emergency service vehicles are exempt (that doesn't mean individual guards are).

Zuiderzee

I tried to find out what Beverly Flynns expenses were, to be told I had to pay a fee for processing etc.
What happened to freedom of information?

The people in the dail are over paid and are doing a pretty bad job.

They make over 100K each per annum on salary, and I would like to know what expenses they are claiming.

thebman

The expense were posted in one of the newspapers only a couple of weeks ago. Its probably available online.

There pay cuts mean nothing as long as they have these expenses for travelling to their job :rolleyes: I don't get expenses for going to my job and they are paid too much in standard wage anyway. They are just going to increase their expenses to get any pay cut any of them may take as a "geasture" to the people that they are so fooking out of touch with.

Seth Brundle

Aah lads! Have some sense! It costs a lot to run three houses...

earlyevening

I read on politics.ie that a particular FF TD claimed zero in expenses for the last two years. He should be promoted.

Zuiderzee

At the time, I wanted to know how much she claimed from the Western Healthboard - and was this in addition to her TD expenses.

I believe that these types of claims should be open to the public

The_Minister

brim4brim wrote: »

There pay cuts mean nothing as long as they have these expenses for travelling to their job :rolleyes: I don't get expenses for going to my job and they are paid too much in standard wage anyway.

Do you travel from Galway to Dublin several times a week?

TDs can't stay up in Dublin, they have to go between there and their constiuencies.

thebman

The_Minister wrote: »

Do you travel from Galway to Dublin several times a week?

TDs can't stay up in Dublin, they have to go between there and their constiuencies.

They get paid enough already (too much actually), they shouldn't be claiming the expense. Its not a big country.

Many commuters are doing similar distances without claiming expenses for it and on a fraction of the wage. Most don't travel from Galway.

AngryHippie

Td's expenses are a total joke tbh. Granted there are travel expenses, and overnight stays, But if your gonna be dining out on taxpayers money, then the taxpayer should dictate what they get to eat. Fcuking happy meals for them. This is all a legacy left over from CJH like bad hangover, While Biff is making some steps in the right direction, he's never going to go far enough without a backlash from the ranks. Any reform on this issue will not come from within govt. It will have to come from an external regulator. Why is there none ?

tallaght01

TDs don't get paid too much.

That's just something people automatically say as a reflex.

You may think some of them do a crappy job. But, for what the job actually is, compared to other jobs, a salary of 100k is reasonable.

Liam Byrne

tallaght01 wrote: »

You may think some of them do a crappy job. But, for what the job actually is, compared to other jobs, a salary of 100k is reasonable.

You're differentiating between the job and how hard or how well they work at it.

If you hired a builder who came in, knew what he was doing, did the job quickly and tidily, and was out in 3 days, he'd be worth a high cost.

If you've someone who hasn't a clue what they're doing, can't make decisions, needs 40 million consultants reports to decide what to do, makes a complete mess and gets nothing worthwhile done in a year; basically can't do what they're hired to do (and then have the cheek to ask you for more money and more expenses) then they're definitely not worth high wages.....

And in fact, if they were a builder, you'd probably be able to tell them to f**k off unpaid and maybe even manage to get cash from them in a small claims court.

ArseBurger

brim4brim wrote: »

Many commuters are doing similar distances without claiming expenses for it and on a fraction of the wage.

Commuting and traveling for work/business are two completely separate things.

Everyone is entitled to claim expenses for travel incurred as part of their work.

tallaght01

Liam Byrne wrote: »

You're differentiating between the job and how hard or how well they work at it.

If you hired a builder who came in, knew what he was doing, did the job quickly and tidily, and was out in 3 days, he'd be worth a high cost.

If you've someone who hasn't a clue what they're doing, can't make decisions, needs 40 million consultants reports to decide what to do, makes a complete mess and gets nothing worthwhile done in a year; basically can't do what they're hired to do (and then have the cheek to ask you for more money and more expenses) then they're definitely not worth high wages.....

And in fact, if they were a builder, you'd probably be able to tell them to f**k off unpaid and maybe even manage to get cash from them in a small claims court.

How would we attract good builders in the future if they all got paid balls-all, and that was it? Your analogy only applies where different people can charge different prices depending onhow good they are.

Not all TDs are crap. It's a tough job, and I imagine their hourly pay isn't huge.

John_C

Liam Byrne wrote: »

And in fact, if they were a builder, you'd probably be able to tell them to f**k off

We can fire our TDs as well. The current lot were all voted in.

Matt Holck

if the job is profitable,
the politician may be less swayed by outside wealth

gurramok

They are supposed to serve the public interests primarily with loyalty under oath, how many euros in their pockets is supposed to be secondary.

Matt Holck

exactly
they should not be worrying over personal funds

thebman

ArseBurger wrote: »

Commuting and traveling for work/business are two completely separate things.

Everyone is entitled to claim expenses for travel incurred as part of their work.

unvouched? I think not.

They are extremely well paid for people with little or no qualifications for the job they do. Many don't know the first thing about the areas they are ministers of.

Take the Minister for Communications for example who thinks Mobile BB is as good as DSL or Cable and just awarded around 80 million of taxpayers money to a Mobile BB provider to bring BB to rural areas and businesses when all experts in the area say it isn't up to the task.

Oh thank chr*st we have such a good person in that position. Give him all the money he's asking for. This doesn't appear to be a case of a few rotten eggs giving the lot a bad name. More a case of plenty of rotten eggs with a few goods ones if you look carefully.

Their basic wage more than covers any travel expenses they may incur and should be reduced if they want to claim (in some cases, almost a 100K) of expenses on top of their basic wage.

In fact their pay should be substantially reduced and bonuses awarded for work actually achieved instead of just paying them for doing a crap job.

ArseBurger

brim4brim wrote: »

unvouched? I think not.

Certain sectors of private industry receive tax credits 'unvouched' for travel automatically. The service industry is one.

So, yes. I think so.

ArseBurger

brim4brim wrote: »

unvouched? I think not.

They are extremely well paid for people with little or no qualifications for the job they do. Many don't know the first thing about the areas they are ministers of.

They are paid to be managers. And, generally, the are qualified to do their job. Mostly, they are expert negotiators, adept at conflict resolution and honed in political history etc...

They are paid, as ministers, to take advice from experts and make decisions based upon that advice.

I would actually say that it would be a hindrance to be a minister with a qualified background in the area that you were responsible for as it would bias any decisions made.

Politics 101 really - maybe you should read a book on it.

Seth Brundle

ArseBurger wrote: »

They are paid to be managers. And, generally, the are qualified to do their job. Mostly, they are expert negotiators, adept at conflict resolution and honed in political history etc...

How is Brian Cowen qualified to be Taoiseach? I haven't seen evidence of him expertly negotiating anything recently!
How is Brian Lenihan qualified to be in charge of the most important set of accounts in the country?
How is Martin Cullen qualified to do anything?

ArseBurger wrote: »

They are paid, as ministers, to take advice from experts and make decisions based upon that advice.

But it could be suggested that many choices are extremely poorly made and in some cases chosen to match party policy or personal interest over the greater good!

Sleipnir

ArseBurger wrote: »

They are paid to be managers. And, generally, the are qualified to do their job. Mostly, they are expert negotiators, adept at conflict resolution and honed in political history etc...

Just one civil servant in over 600 staff at the Department of Finance has the top-level business qualification -- a PhD in economics.

As the department grapples with issues like the recapitalisation of the banks and a collapse in confidence in the regulatory system, it seems that the minister may be going into complex negotiations without the backing he needs.

Labour Finance spokeswoman Joan Burton said: "He urgently needs to hire some fiscal hit-men if he is serious about getting tough on our banking culture."

Former Taoiseach Dr Garret FitzGerald recently drew attention to the lack of qualifications among staff at the Department of Finance.
"When I was Taoiseach there were 17 economists working in the department. When I last checked a few years ago, there were only three, only one of whom was working on macro-economic issues -- on policy issues relating to the performances of the economy,"said Dr Fitzgerald in a column in the Irish Times.

but, so long as they're "honed in political history", we'll be fine!

sovtek

The_Minister wrote: »

Do you travel from Galway to Dublin several times a week?

TDs can't stay up in Dublin, they have to go between there and their constiuencies.

Yeah they take a taxi from Galway to Dublin.