Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I know we had a bit of tension in our contributions on this matter on Committee Stage. I appeal to the Minister to make a very big effort to ignore my personality, which might be an irritant, and look at the substance of the amendment. As Deputy Timmins pointed out, it is only right and proper that the clawback of what was called the leaders' allowance in respect of Members of the House who have lost their party Whip should go back to the Exchequer if it does not stay with the Members. It is very simple and plain. Even the people of Ireland know this. There is no point in bringing them through the labyrinth and maze of what has been the tradition and how things arose. It is where we are today that counts.

It is very important that the increasing number of Independent Deputies in the House are well resourced to carry out their research and to have all the supporting work, which costs money, carried out for them. Even as we look at the preparation for the European elections and the amount of money to support the candidates, we can see that party members get two and a half times the donation allowance by law compared to Independents. That is extraordinary. The maximum donation from any source for an Independent is €1,000 while for a political party, it is €2,500. Parties have other sources of funding that blend in because there is no strict auditing differentiation as to how funds should be applied when they come. Like the currents of the ocean, one cannot separate the waters. They get money from the European party groupings to which they belong. Average citizens Joe and Mary do not really know what is going on and that is why they are dissatisfied and disillusioned. We are not talking in plain, Monday-to-Sunday, ordinary English and simple, honest, transparent speech. Diversionary bones are thrown for people to get into a lather but it is very simple.

We could start with a clean slate, as I suggested on Committee Stage, and work it out. We could work out what amount of money for 166 Deputies doing a certain amount of work and working so many hours a day and so many months a year is estimated to be a reasonable amount for research and other related work. The Government calls it activity-based funding. We could then divide that money by 166. That is the fairest and most patently obvious starting place. I appeal to the Minister to do this.

Under the alternative before this can be put into place, and the Minister should not let it be a long delay, the Government should put the funding that has been pickpocketed from the people who now find themselves Independents and doubly and trebly disadvantaged into the Exchequer so it can go back to worthy expenditure on medical cards and disability services. Let us be simple and clear and do it. It is the honest and decent thing to do. Forget about sticky plastering through legislation and creating an amendment here. Let us start with a clean slate and make it simple. One page could do it. I challenge the Minister. He is a very able person. He could put it on one page.

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