Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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An issue members should be conscious of is that Deputies, Ministers and Senators would be in receipt of various allowances. It is important that in conducting a review of allowances, we are conscious that Members of the Oireachtas, Ministers, and others, in terms of leaders' allowances and so on, are also in receipt of these allowances. Are the allowances being paid to Members of the Oireachtas and Ministers included in that review? The public would consider it a bit rich if the Committee of Public Accounts was to review of allowances paid in the public arena out of public funds and specifically exclude allowances paid to Ministers, Deputies and Senators. What is our position on that? We do not want to leave ourselves open to the obvious criticism that could arise and we should clear our lines on this issue at the outset.