Statement
By
Michael McDowell
Tuesday 1st October, 2013
MORE LIES AND SPIN
The Government’s spin doctors seem to be desperate. Having been exposed on the €20 million lie, they are intent on filling the newspapers with further false stories about the costs of the Seanad.
The latest Fine Gael lie is that we will somehow save recurring severance payments of €5 million by getting rid of the Seanad.
This latest lie has no foundation in fact.
The Oireachtas Commission has had to contradict this latest attempt to hoodwink the Irish media and people with misinformation fed out to the media, by issuing a formal letter by way of disclaimer to the Irish Examiner.
If Fine Gael want to save money they could cut salaries and expenses now –in 2013.
The € 20 Million Lie
The “Save €20 Million” claim on posters is, and always was, utterly false.
If people vote Yes this Friday, there will in fact be no saving at all in 2013, no saving at all in 2014, and no saving at all in 2015.
Even in 2016, the year of proposed abolition, the annual net difference to the Exchequer in respect of salaries after tax for Senators and their staff would be about €6.5 million.
That is €1.60 per Irish person per year – the price of a container of milk!
That “net saving” figure is less than 1% of the annual budget of Dublin City Council.
And even that “saving” in 1916 would be further reduced by advanced, increased pensions costs and severance payments arising from the fact of abolition itself.
No attempt has been made to allow for the extra costs of increased Dail sitting days and new public access Committees promised to commence immediately.
But this unnecessary “power grab” referendum is costing us €14 million now – this year – when we can least afford it.
The Fewer Politicians Hoax
Even the Fine Gael “fewer politicians” claim is deeply suspect.
Fine Gael has quietly reneged on a solemn promise to the electorate to reduce the number of TDs by twenty. They cited “constitutional reasons”, but failed to propose a simple amendment in Friday’s referendum to enable them to deliver on that solemn commitment.
No-one in the media has held them to account for this cynical u-turn.
Now we hear that the four Dublin regional councils, including Dublin City Council, are being given no less than 52 extra, paid councillors in June. Their Council chambers and offices are receiving a multi-million euro make-over to accommodate the new extra councillors.
This latest Dublin wheeze is designed to cushion Fine Gael and Labour from a drubbing in the next local elections when their opinion poll support has slumped.