In my company, Celtic Bookmakers, we employ 300 people. Our payroll is our most significant overhead. We were spending more than €7 million annually on pay.
To survive the recession we had to cut these costs by up to 25 per cent. As managing director and chairman I realised the best way to provide leadership was to take a pay cut myself. I decided I would draw no salary from the company in 2009. Hence I write for the Galway Advertiser group.
More waffle from our politicians will not inspire anybody to accept sacrifices of lower living standards, tax hikes, or fewer public services. It’s time for the political class to “walk the walk”.
It is crazy for our top public servants to be the highest paid in the western world. The top brass in the public sector – the judiciary, university professors, and senior civil servants should have their pay slashed by 25 per cent in 2009. Personal ministerial staff working on constituency work should be limited to one or two assistants.
There are now 20 junior ministers. Ten should go. They are a devalued currency – a geo-political sweetener for constituencies. Only three of them have real jobs. At the Department of Finance, there is responsibility for Office of Public Works. Minister for State in the Department for Foreign Affairs has an effective European affairs role. The chief whip has specific responsibilities with the running of Dáil business and the Civil Defence.
The productivity of our parliament is abysmal. The Westminster equivalent sits five days a week. The least our politicos could do is sit for four days plenary session and conduct committee work each week.
Reference to Dáil committees raises my blood pressure. A severe cull is long overdue. Half of the 19 Joint Oireachtas committees should be amalgamated. I can’t see any justification for the allowances payable to the committee chairs, vice chairs, and convenors. They should be abolished. Dáil committees should have new powers to summon required witnesses.
There have been many calls to scrap the Senate entirely and the 60 senators. Most of these are elected on various panels by local councillors. The rest are put there by graduates from some universities or are Taoiseach’s nominees.
The Senate has a deserved reputation as a rest home for defeated deputies or an incubator for wannabe TDs. It would require a constitutional referendum to abolish it. Instead we should open up the election system to the public. There is role a for contributors with specialist expertise on the economy, public administration, and the law.
The electoral process itself also requires political reform. The Referendum Commission has added to rather than reduced confusion during recent campaigns. This costly nonsense should cease.
Voter registration continues to exasperate residents who find they are not on the electoral register. The Standards in Public Office has been a toothless lion when it comes to regulating campaign finance. Libertas has wilfully ignored its requests for information. Political parties abuse campaign expenditure limits by spending activity before the starting date.
These electoral issues need to be revisited. I shudder to reflect on the scandal of the e-voting shambles. One single body should be responsible for the entire conduct of elections including constituency boundaries. It should insist on proper accountability for party funding and ensure State grants to political parties are properly spent on research. Such an electoral commission should be independent of the Government and oversee the democratic mandate.
I note Enda Kenny made detailed proposals on these topics last week. Effective leadership starts at the top. Reform of our political system and cost cutting at the highest level should be a prerequisite to the forthcoming budget on April 7. Last week’s €3,000 top up increment for TDs with seven years service is unbelievable. Folks, don’t hold your breath…
