Madam, – Is anyone considering the cost to the taxpayer of the extraordinary “out-of-term” meetings of the Seanad committee on members’ interests and the meetings of Fianna Fáil sub committees about expenses abuse? No politician ever meets about anything without claiming expenses. All alleged expense irregularities should be dealt with only by the Garda Síochána. If it finds evidence of criminal wrongdoing the matter should come before the courts and if convicted the wrongdoer would be expelled from public office.
Anything less than expulsion for expense abusers is no good to the taxpayer. Resignation just means the taxpayer will be funding indefinitely a generous pension. Meantime, if a referendum were held to abolish all expenses to all politicians, the result would be a foregone conclusion and this type of scandal would never occur again. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The continuing exposure of the alleged abuses of expenses claims by members of the Oireachtais along with their application of harsh austerity measures on the rest of us is very hard to take.
In addition, the banks, on an almost daily basis, are announcing increases in interest rates without concomitant increase in the European Central Bank rate. They have also not addressed the issue of executive pay and perks such as golf club memberships etc, even though they are almost totally reliant on the hard-pressed taxpayer for survival. In fact, it was not that long ago that senior executives in Anglo-Irish Bank were awarded pay increases even though the bank itself is almost beyond repair. It would appear to bear out La Bruyère’s observation that self-indulgence and severity towards others are the same vice. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I am trawling through the names of the Fianna Fáil TDs to see who can throw the first stone at Ivor Callely.
After that I will look at the Opposition. – Yours, etc,