Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Such a body should decide how this should be done because it is most important that the moral authority of this House be preserved and respected. However, the moral authority of this House is not accepted at present because Members are perceived to be behaving in a particular manner and to be accepting the sort of wages, salaries and pensions they also allow bankers to have. How can Members' moral authority be accepted when they allow bankers to take salaries of €500,000 or €600,000 per year and state there is nothing they can do about it? Moreover, while Members were permitting such pensions, they were allocating similarly-inflated pensions to themselves. The public cannot accept this. There is nothing special about a Deputy. There is nothing particularly meritorious about the work Members are doing. However, there is a perception that Members are feathering their own nests. It is as much the Minister's responsibility as it is that of Members to spike this perception. I ask the Minister not to interrupt or to destroy ideas of this sort. He should not set up a body of quangos to revert with a similar position. I ask the Minister to treat all Members equally. I ask him to propose that expenses be vouched but that this should be done for everyone. He should reduce expenses but should do so for everyone.

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