David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yes, exactly. I very much take the Minister’s point, which I heard when he talked about the way the Labour Party in Britain introduced pay for the first time. We do not want a parliament of industrialists and squireens. We want to make it possible for people to come in but given the way politicians are treated that is increasingly unlikely. I have heard several young people who had an interest in politics saying they would not go near it now. They say we are not financially rewarded and are subject to continuous abuse. The Minister is not saying that politicians are a special category but that in the view of some people they are. However, in the view of some people we are all complete blaggards in both Houses. We can discount the views of some people. It is a very nebulous concept.

I am interested in this aspect because it seems there is a kind of masochism about politicians generally and they rush to embrace cuts and pretend to be coy in public about getting restoration of these things but it is a different thing in the Members’ bar or in the restaurant or in the coffee dock. I will say what everybody else is thinking, apart of course, from the honourable people of Sinn Féin but I cannot supplement my income by doing a bank.