Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue has finally succumbed to public and political pressure and resigned. Well actually after the weekend he will take the shameful step, that is if the Government haven’t already fallen.
The ‘greed’ and ‘misuse’ of public money which has become synonymous with the Fianna Fáil man meant the writing was on the wall for him once revelations about his astronomical expense claims started to come to light.
Five hundred and fifty thousand in expenses over five years is a tidy sum for one office. But don’t worry, he’s not walking away empty handed. According to news reports he will receive a €112,500 payout for resigning. He will also be able to claim a salary of €100,000 for serving as a backbench TD and two years later he will be able to claim an annual ministerial pension of €25,000, which will rise to €67,000 when he retires from the Dáil. The whole thing smacks of the Rody Molloy situation. A man is found to have abused the system and squandered State money and gets rewarded handsomely in return.
But the problem isn’t specifically John O’Donoghue, or any other minister for that matter. The problem lies with the system which is in place and which enables ministers to claim monumental expenses for lavish lifestyles.
Of course they should be recompensed, but only for outgoings and they should not profit from their expenses. A complete overhaul of this system is drastically needed if public faith is to be restored — a task which may not be too easy. Every last penny is being squeezed from ordinary workers. They don’t appreciate seeing public representatives living it up at their expense and with only half hearted apologies when they have been caught out.
Minister John Gormley is now warning that all ministers’ expenses would reveal anomalies and excesses in a system that is devoid of openness and transparency and O’Donoghue’s situation, while probably far in excess of his Dáil colleagues, is more than likely only the tip of the iceberg.
What’s more embarrassing for the Government now is the resignation of auditor Tom O’Higgins, the chairman of the audit committee of the commission, who was charged with overseeing the regime of allowances and expenses for TDs and senators. Mr O’Higgins resigned in frustration at the refusal of politicians to reform their expenses and allowances. Many of these career politicians are numb to the hardships that ordinary businessmen and women suffer on a daily basis, and their greatest concern seems to be getting their expense claims in on time.
One thing the Mayo public have been asking in all this is, where was Enda Kenny? It was a Sinn Féin motion which initially called on the Ceann Comhairle to resign, and Labour leader Eamon Gilmore who led the charge. At least Kenny wanted his resignation “there and then” and wasn’t happy for it to be put on hold until Tuesday. If Fine Gael are to be in Government by February, something Enda is confident of, then he needs to be seen to be packing punches and playing the squeaky clean card in an effort to gain the public’s confidence.
Maybe it’s time now for Fine Gael to try their hand at putting this country back on the rails. God knows they couldn’t be any worse than what’s there at present — or could they? Time will tell if Enda and co keep saying the right things and shaking the right hands. He and George Lee certainly made an impact in Castlebar prior to the Lisbon Treaty and if they can put half of what they discussed into practice, their proposals are worth a shot.
