The figures revealed by Fine Gael that show the taxpayer is paying over €8 million for 187 staff for ministers of state highlight the absolute necessity for at least three junior ministries to be abolished according to Mayo Deputy John O’Mahony TD.
Deputy O’Mahony said that it is ridiculous for the Greens to echo Fine Gael’s call for the number of junior ministers to be cut but then confirm that they are not bringing the proposal to Cabinet.
“The Greens confirmed that neither they nor anyone in Fianna Fáil will be bringing this proposal to Cabinet. This once again highlights the complete absence of leadership from the FF/Green Government.
“For months, Fine Gael has been calling for the number of junior ministers to be cut by at least three with a corresponding reduction in the number of support staff. Just last month, I highlighted the huge amount of taxpayers’ cash spent on support staff for junior ministers.
“Putting 187 staff in the private and constituency offices of 20 ministers of state at a cost of €8,240,400.71 can only be described as a profligate waste of public money. This cash should instead have been used to put teachers in schools and nurses in hospitals.
“Over the last few days, it seemed that some in Fianna Fáil and the Greens had seen sense and begun to back Fine Gael’s calls. However, with nothing being discussed at Cabinet, this looks once again like Fianna Fáil and the Greens talking a great game but doing nothing. Fianna Fáil governments sleep-walked us into this recession and, as this shows, they are not willing to take even the smallest steps to get us out of it,” said Dep O’Mahony.
