Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has brought forward a fine Bill and I am sorry that my two amendments are the only ones. I sincerely hope that they do not overshadow the fantastic work that the Minister and her officials have done in the horrendous times in which we live.

I have no regrets about bringing forward this amendment because the matter has to be debated. I am honoured that all of my colleagues in the House see that the profession of politics needs to be examined. Senator Lombard talked about the young councillors in Cork leaving their roles. Senator Carrigy referred to the fact that 10% of all councillors did not run for election. Senator Seery Kearney mentioned voluntary contributions. What she does not know is that there are two levels. If one comes into these Houses with a class A PRSI, as I did, it means a voluntary contribution is €5,500 per year. That is prohibitive and one could not avail of it. That is why I brought up the issue of class K five years ago. A class S PRSI voluntary contribution, on the other hand, is only €500. It makes it prohibitive for anybody who came in here on class A PRSI. That is something at which we need to look.

I regard class K as a tax on public service. It is wrong in every sense of the word and I am delighted that there seems to be cross-party support for this.

Senator Lombard spoke about the young. During the summer, I commissioned a report on the Seanad from a number of students in UCC. I asked two of them to prepare a report for me and it turned out to be a most exciting couple of weeks as the group grew to around about 25 students of politics in UCC who all contributed to it. The outcome was excellent. Many of us might not think so because it is quite critical of the House, but it was fantastic to see the energy involved.