Dominick Donnelly

8^th April 2009

Green Party member of Passage West Town Council and candidate for the Carrigaline electoral area of Cork County Council, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly has welcomed the removal in yesterday’s budget of the facility for teachers who were elected to either the Dail or Seanad retaining their teaching salary as well as their Oireachtas salary, and only having to pay a substitute, usually on a far lower salary.

Cllr. Donnelly said: “This was a ridiculous provision which should have been removed a long time ago.  I spoke in support of a motion at the recent Green Party convention to remove this perk, and it is wonderful to see how the Green Party are influencing Government to be fairer, and for members of the Oireachtas not just to be feathering their own nests.  This is just one example of many perks enjoyed by members of the Oireachtas which the general public hates, and which leads many people to have no faith in the political system, or in the motivations of politicians.”

“In order to restore the faith of the public in politics, and in politicians, all such perks must go, and the Green Party will continue to push forward with these reforms.  At a time of crisis like this, the importance of politics is brought sharply into focus, but in order for us all to move out of this crisis together the public must have confidence that those making the decisions on their behalf are motivated solely by their desire to serve society, and that they are not motivated by any desire just to look after themselves,” continued Cllr. Donnelly.

Cllr. Donnelly concluded: “The Green Party is entirely committed to cleaning up Irish politics, in order to restore the faith of the Irish public in the political system, and to bring politicians closer to the people they are meant to be serving.  This is just one small but important step along that road.”