Budget day... Will They Cut Their Own Expenses for Next Year??

 

Ah Summer, the time of year that usually cheers everyone right up! Unless of course you’re Irish and live in Ireland in which case, you probably feel hard done by every summer watching preppy little Californians on TV, enjoying their sun and cocktails and thriving economy while the hail stones crash against your window, bringing on your new condition – Seasonal Associated Depression. In Ireland we get winter combined with a little Autumn, and the off chance of bit of Spring - all year, until December. Then it’s just winter. Along with this delightful climate, we have a sprinkle of debt, not that you’d know judging from some of the deputies’ Summer spendings!!!!

In just 3 months, 26 of them claimed over €5,000 EACH and only 2 out of 226 claimed nothing. A tip of the hat, a clap of the hands and a stomp of my bloggerboot to those two! However the rest didn’t follow suit, oh no, in fact they managed to rack up a whopping €750,000+ in expenses!!
This most definitely warranted a little investigation, so I did just that and here’s a few little nuggets of knowlegde for you all for the next time they come knocking for votes:

• Deputies can avail of two different expenses rates:
  1) Unvouched expenses – up to €15,000 with no questions asked
  2) Vouched expenses – up to €25,000 provided receipts can be presented if/when asked
• Depending on the distance of your home from the houses of the Oireachtas, the allowance granted for travel and accomodation ranges from €12,000 – €37,850 (which is paid MONTHLY!!!!!!)

By my rough calculations (aka I didn’t bother grabbing my abacus during my rage for fear i might snap it), depending on where you choose to reside, you could claim over €60,000 per/month before you’re salary is added!! Wow!!
What else are they wasting money on?

• Receptionists in State offices earn an extra €34 per week just to stamp outgoing mail. That’s €1,768 per receptionist, per year!
• €65 per civil servant, per year - for shoes!!!!
• Staff ar Chester Beatty Library are given a box making allowance – yeah I know – of up to €20 per box
• HSA receptionists get an additional €2,400 to ensure that phones are answered 9 – 5, monday – friday. I’m sorry but, that’s their job! Why are they rewarded extras from the tax payers money for doing what they were employed to do? Workers in McDonalds don’t get a cent extra for ensuring the burger is flipped, or for serving snot-nosed little children 50-100 times per day!!

All of this and they still want to make cuts to things like the health service, the education system, social welfare, child benefits, student grants and so much more!! These are things on which so many families depend. Yes, some have abused and manipulated the systems but I think I have proved that so too have those in charge of the country in using the tax payers’ money to pay for their holiday, their car, or their iPhone, or whatever else they claimed for!
Lead by example lads. A case of do as I say and not as I do, simply doesn’t suffice here. Buck up, or get out. Give the people back their money and their country!
Democracy? I think not. Collins and his men would be turning in their graves at the thought of the men and women running the country they died for.