Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

When we get to that section I will not read this exact paragraph again, but it is important that we go through the various aspects of it. The size of the Seanad is mentioned and it is suggested, which is not necessarily something with which I agree, that a reformed Seanad would have 65 Members.

Earlier I mentioned the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, speaking about the cost. A cost of €24 million is bandied around recklessly by Ministers. The truth is completely different. I have a document which refers to the cost of the Houses of the Oireachtas, which I am sure has some bearing on the abolition day. I went back through this because I thought it was important to do so. The salary for a Senator is at present approximately €65,000. The figures in the document date back to 2009 when the average figure for a Senator's salaries, allowances and expenses was €119,000. The total for Senators' pay was €4.5 million. At the time salaries for senior Members or longer-serving Members was as high as €78,000. The total for Senators' staff was €2.4 million. In total, between salaries and allowances the cost in 2009, when such figures were much higher, was €6.9 million. That is all. We hear a figure of €24 million being bandied around. During the radio interview, when the Minister, Deputy Bruton could not remember what he had done in the Seanad himself although he is director of elections for its abolition, he got a little ratty with me and stated it is rigged and the Government is guaranteed to win all time. That is wrong. I suggested he might abolish the Whip for a month and see how it would operate.