Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

This is an important Bill in the context of the current economic crisis. There is a demand and an expectation for leadership from both Government and Opposition and from all elected public representatives. They will be expected to lead the charge in efforts to bring the public finances under control and to take the pain and a hit in what are very difficult times. This is particularly relevant in the context of what has been happening in the private sector for the past year where people are not discussing taking cuts of 10% or 25% in their pay because the situation is much more serious in that sector. We are all aware from our constituency work that people are losing their jobs.

There is an air of unreality connected to certain elements of the trade unions and particularly to certain elements of the public sector. We must show leadership as elected representatives. The challenge for the Minister in the coming months will be the figure of €20 billion which is the cost of running the public services and which is not sustainable. We all have to take our hit and share the pain. Public spending has to be dramatically reduced and we have to play our part in this cut.

The wider debate about politicians' salaries and expenses has to come with a health warning. A media campaign has been driven by sensationalism and populism in this regard. Politicians are probably the easiest targets for the media. There seems to be a constant stream of freedom of information questions on a monthly basis to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. The same figures are published repeatedly and yet they manage to make headlines every time. I would recommend to the Minister and to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission that these figures should be published as a matter of course. We should not allow these figures to become front page headlines. We should be transparent with our information and show the public our expenses, what we are claiming and the reasons for the claims. I have no problem in doing so and I make a point of publishing that information in my constituency.

I welcomed the Minister's announcement that ministerial pensions would be scrapped for serving TDs. In my view, however, we need to go further. No Member of the Oireachtas should be in receipt of a public pension, whether he or she is a teacher or from any other profession. It is well known by everyone that we are paid very handsomely as Members of the Oireachtas. We should take a strong stance on the issue of pensions.

I am aware of the legal advice from the Attorney General with regard to the constitutionality of abolishing the pensions. I concur with the point made by Deputy Shatter. I do not see the consistency in allowing for a 25% reduction and yet saying a reduction of 100% would be considered unconstitutional or open to a constitutional challenge. I am not convinced by the argument, although the Minister will have a view. We should be serious about this issue and about restoring public confidence in the work of the Houses of the Oireachtas. Most Members work hard and work long hours, weekends and holidays. The perception is that we take off for three months in the summer. We all know that is fallacious but we must stand up and be counted in that regard. We must show leadership by leading from the front but we also must challenge many of the myths that surround the media reporting and the coverage of the work we do here and the way we are remunerated for that work.

We should be in a position to carry out the work we must do in our constituencies and we should not be constrained in that. Not so long ago politicians here were very badly paid and it was difficult for people who did not have a wealthy background and the resources to be elected to this House or Seanad Éireann. It is extremely important that financial obstacles do not create barriers for people entering elected politics.

We cannot allow politics to become the preserve of the rich. There are many people in the media who would love to go back to the days when politics was a part-time hobby for some very wealthy people. That would not be fair to society, would lead to this House becoming much less representative of ordinary society and reduce people's choices in terms of having a wide spectrum of people before them on the ballot paper with a realistic prospect of getting elected to this House.

I do not want politics to become the preserve of the rich and in that regard I welcome the Minister's initiative. I am aware it has not been finalised yet but I welcome his initiative in trying to sort out the quagmire that is the expenses here in this House and in Seanad Éireann. I wish him well with that task. It is not an easy one but we must have transparency and accountability in the expenses system, and we must be in a position also to run our political operations in our constituencies. There is a fine line in that regard and it will be a balancing act but the way to achieve it is probably through the proposal for a parliamentary allowance that Deputies and Senators can use to carry out their constituency work. That is probably the fairest and most transparent way to go about it, and it should be published. That is my last appeal to the Minister. He should publish it and make it available on the Internet to whoever wants to check it out, but please do not allow the system to continue with journalists who seem to have not much else to do other than submitting freedom of information requests and then sensationalising the whole process. We should be transparent about it.

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