Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for his contribution. I presume this will be a relatively short debate. Two Bills relating to pay and expenses of public representatives in these Houses and the European Parliament were passed in recent weeks. Approximately one month ago we debated legislation on payments to MEPs. The legislation that was passed by this House related to MEPs only, but the State pays a significant number of people in the European Commission and in other European institutions. We pay judges, auditors, senior civil servants and a range of other people. Those people were specifically excluded from the legislation passed one month ago, which focused purely on elected public representatives.

This type of legislation is concerned with ensuring good governance of taxpayers' money and a sensible approach to how we deal with the crisis in our economy. As such, it should not focus exclusively on politicians. There is a nagging doubt that these measures are being introduced merely for optics, to prove that something is being done in regard to politicians' pay, as opposed to examining the system in a broader way and making the necessary changes across the board. That is why I was surprised that the Minister of State avoided the issue of the remuneration of all individuals working in the European Commission and otherwise when that legislation was introduced last month.

The legislation before us today focuses specifically on aspects of the remuneration of Members of the Oireachtas. However, there has been little specific focus on the remuneration of Ministers other than a reminder of voluntary reductions in ministerial pay. Perhaps such changes will arise out of the report by an bord snip nua, but there is no evidence of that in this legislation. There is nothing about the expenses associated with ministerial offices and the salary costs of civil servants who work for Ministers. I understand some Ministers of State have as many as eight civil servants working for them.