Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I agree wholeheartedly with Deputy Lucinda Creighton. Before I ran for election, I knew very little or nothing about this Parliament. I was talking to a man who had been around the Dáil for years, although not in an elected capacity, and he assured me that irrespective of how bad, dysfunctional or cynical I believed Dáil Éireann was, it was much worse. The stance the Minister is taking on this issue, that is, to penalise Independent Deputies and Senators who receive a fraction of what party Deputies and Senators receive and also Deputies and Senators who, for whatever reason, leave their parties, is extraordinary. It makes a mockery of the so-called democratic revolution. There are three Deputies present for whom the Taoiseach will have received €500,000 in public funding between the time they were kicked out of their party for standing up for a party promise and the next election. How can anybody in a modern democracy stand over this? I have examined the numbers. For all the Deputies who have either left or been kicked out of his party the Taoiseach will receive over €1 million. The Tánaiste, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, will also receive over €1 million. Between them, they will receive €2.2 million. The Taoiseach is paid approximately €65,000 per Deputy. For the three Deputies in question who are present, he will receive approximately €500,000 over a period of two and a half years. It is astounding that the Government would stand over stating the Taoiseach should be paid €500,000 of taxpayers' money for these three Deputies since they have been kicked out of his party. I agree wholeheartedly with the amendment. It is a version of my amendment that was ruled out of order. I support Deputy Sean Fleming's amendment and the points made by the other Deputies, including Deputy Lucinda Creighton. It is an outrageous use of public money and outrageous discrimination against elected Members of Dáil Éireann.