TDs hand back €17,000 each in pay increases
Two Mullingar based TDs have confirmed that they have returned more than €17,000 each to the exchequer in the last year after declining to take any of the three pay increases given to TDs.
Minister of State Peter Burke and Sorca Clarke of Sinn Féin told the Westmeath Examiner that they will be returning their upcoming wage increases to the exchequer, increases that are part of a wider pay restoration agreement for the highest earners in the public sector.
They also declined to accept two previous increases last year that were also part of the public sector pay restoration agreement. In total, the two TDs have returned some €17,000 to the exchequer.
Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, Deputy Burke, who along with his fellow Ministers of State including Deputy Robert Troy, took a voluntary pay cut of 10 per cent at the start of the current Dáil last February, says that it is important that elected representatives show “solidarity” with their constituents during these challenging times.
“From the very day that the 33rd Dáil met I took a 10 percent pay reduction and also I won’t be taken any pay increases during the duration of the Dáil.
“I think it is a reflection of the times we are in and it is important to show solidarity. In terms of the wider spectrum, it is up to every TD to make that choice whether they take the pay increase.
“When are in the middle of the biggest national crisis in decades and it is important that the challenges are reflected in our salaries.”
Deputy Burke says that unless he had been contacted by the Westmeath Examiner, he would not have publicised his decision to give back this pay increases.
“I don’t feel the need to put it on Facebook, looking for gratitude or praise. I don’t deserve or need it. I am in this job to work hard and do my best for my constituents.”
Deputy Sorca Clarke told the Westmeath Examiner that pay “reversals must start with the lowest paid”.
Every member of the Sinn Féin parliamentary party has returned the three pay rises given to TDs and senators in the last year. The party’s TD in Meath West Johnny Guirke says that it is important that elected representatives lead by example.
“I don’t think any politicians should be taking pay increases during the pandemic. They are well paid enough.
“I don’t see how people could take it. We can’t pay student nurses. We can’t pay frontline staff. It’s wrong and it makes it look like we are only in this for the money. That is not my agenda anyway.”
When contacted by the Westmeath Examiner, Minister Robert Troy said that as a party Fianna Fáil had yet not formulated a position on the upcoming pay increases.
He also pointed out that when he was appointed minister of state last year, he took a 10 per cent pay cut in his ministerial salary and that he was one of only a small number of TDs that voluntarily returned his monthly travel expenses after the first lockdown last spring.
Aontú leader and Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín, who tabled a Dáil bill proposing that TDs’ wages be cut by a quarter during Level 4 and 5 lockdowns, said that TDs and senators have to show support for the people they are representing.
“While the savings to the state in this proposed salary cut may not be large, it’s really important that everyone, including TDs, pay their share of the cost of getting Ireland back on its feet.
“On top of this, due to serious government incompetence, the country is facing nine more weeks of lockdown. It’s clear that the government do not know what it is like for families right around the country.
"Making decisions for so many people and being immune to the consequences of those decisions does not make for good governance. If politicians don’t share in the cost of those decisions, they are blind to the real experience of so many people.”