Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This does create a difficulty when contracts are being agreed with people who are working. There has to be fair play when people are employed. They should be employed on the same basis as anyone else. There should be some certainty about their employment. I would be concerned to ensure they are employed on a par with people who are doing a similar co-ordinating job in the Oireachtas. I might talk to the Minister about this issue again.

Is the Minister satisfied that the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission is not excluded from assisting? We were told it could not assist because it was not legally allowed to do so. Is the Minister satisfied that is not the case? I acknowledge the change that has been made to the parliamentary activities allowance. It is an improvement because it is more reflective of the reality. Like some other Deputies, I find it very useful to be able to employ an extra person. That is the support we get. Those within the party system get greater support from the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. Fianna Fáil gets 17.25 secretarial assistant equivalents and Sinn Féin gets 9.75 secretarial assistant equivalents. It is quite a large provision of additional assistance. Both parties do well from the premium on the leader's allowance. All parties that get more than 2% in the opinion polls get support under the Electoral Acts. This does not apply to Independents.

I do not think it is unreasonable to press the point that Independents should receive a guaranteed support to enable us to function in the House in a better way. I do not think anyone who examines the functioning of the Technical Group would dispute that. The most common criticism we receive from the Government side is not that we do not do enough - it is that we are sometimes over-represented when it comes to speaking. I think most Ministers have said that at some point. I suggest that this minimum level of support is required by this active group of Deputies. I am afraid that I will have to press this amendment on a point of principle. Having said that, I acknowledge that the Minister has given me a strong letter, which I certainly intend to use.

See this speech in context