Having recently secured very large salary increases, the Taoiseach and Ministers have been exhorting everyone else to accept realistic pay increases to help maintain our international competitiveness. Well, here is how our TDs compare with their opposite numbers in the UK, our main trading partner:
- The basic salary for a TD is €97,747 compared with €78,588 (£60,277) for a MP.
- The Dail sits for about 95 days a year in contrast to 150+ for Westminster.
Based on the foregoing, and ignoring the fact that MPs serve much bigger constituencies, the basic salary cost per sitting day for a TD is about €1,028, double that for a MP €524). Maybe the Ceann Comhairle and some TDs could take a day trip to Westminster during the Easter recess to see how to instigate a four day, forty week year.
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