Councillors’ expense rules
Senator Davitt supported the councillors’ pay motion and complained that the promised extra expenses were not honoured in the legislation. He said the changes left councillors worse off and that the matter was not handled in good faith.
I again fully concur with those who have spoken on Senator Wilson's motion. It is something we have discussed on several occasions.
Comment on this
Senator Wilson has called for the Minister to come to the House and I am delighted to support him. It is something that has to be urgently discussed. When the Minister came to the House, we discussed the €2,500 in unvouched expenses. I took it that he agreed to look at the extra €2,500 in additional expenses from then on. However, when the legislation came through there was a hard choice. One either took the existing €2,500 or the €5,000 had to be fully vouched. That was not our understanding of the position. It was not in good faith and was not what was said off the record. We were very disappointed.
Councillors' pay has always been linked to that of Senators. If that holds true which, I understand, is their legal right, their basic pay would be a minimum of €23,000. The Minister discussed the issue and gave an undertaking under the review to possibly tie the pay of councillors to a Civil Service rate. It is something we did not hear about under the review. The Minister could certainly brush up on three areas. To say that anyone would be in a worse position following the negotiations beggars belief.