Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I believe I am correct in my understanding because legislation is being brought forward tomorrow. The priority of the Government in the middle of a pandemic, at a time when cancer patients cannot get medical cards, people are seeing their PUP being cut and students are wondering how they will get back to school, is to introduce legislation to give a junior Minister who is already on €124,000 an extra €16,000. The former Tánaiste did not know that this even happened at Cabinet. Can the Minister of State confirm whether Ministers nod off at Cabinet meetings as well as doing so in the Dáil? Can he explain to me and, more important, to the public, how under God the Government thinks it appropriate at this time to increase the salary of a junior Minister who is already on €124,000? A sum of €16,000 is a significant amount of money. This sends out all the wrong signals. Just a few years ago when Fianna Fáil was in opposition it stated that it is adequate to have two super junior Ministers and that it is not a matter for the Dáil to pass legislation to solve an informal Fine Gael demotion or promotion issue. What has changed? We know that Fianna Fáil could never be trusted. The only thing that has changed is that it is now the beneficiary of the super junior Ministry and the bump of €16,000.

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