Jim McDaids money for old rope

mike65

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McDaid article

Just three TDs have a 100% record and only one of them is a Dublin based member. Jim McDaid, who is in every respect "semi-detached" turned up for just 17% of votes while fellow Donegal NE TDs Niall Blaney and Joe McHugh managed 88% and 75% respectively.

We all know McDaid is an embarrassment but really he has to give up his pension after this.

The Dail sits for about 100 days a year, there were 206 votes last year.

Zulu

If a picture paints a thousand words, guess what my point is:






sorry to post a picture, but I think my point is concise

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

Liam Byrne

mike65 wrote: »

Jim McDaid, who is in every repesct "semi-detached" tuned up for just 17% of votes......

We all know McDaid is an embarrassment but really he has to give up his pension after this.

With that record I think he should do us all a favour; keep his pension and give up his TD salary!

danman

Jim McDaid only ran in the last election to spite Niall Blaney.
He was bowing out, right up untill the last minute when Blaney was admitted into FF.

He has a full time GP's practice in Letterkenny.
To say he doesn't give a toss about this contraversy, is putting it mildly.

I doubt very much whether he will ever give it back.

maynooth_rules

danman wrote: »

Jim McDaid only ran in the last election to spite Niall Blaney.
He was bowing out, right up untill the last minute when Blaney was admitted into FF.

He has a full time GP's practice in Letterkenny.
To say he doesn't give a toss about this contraversy, is putting it mildly.

I doubt very much whether he will ever give it back.

If this is true, which I am sure it is, then every Donegal person who completly and utterly wasted a vote on him should feel very proud of themselves now.

FlutterinBantam

danman wrote: »

Jim McDaid only ran in the last election to spite Niall Blaney.
He was bowing out, right up untill the last minute when Blaney was admitted into FF.

He has a full time GP's practice in Letterkenny.
To say he doesn't give a toss about this contraversy, is putting it mildly.

I doubt very much whether he will ever give it back.

He said on the radio today that he only worked 1600-1800 Thur and all day Friday.
Ten hours a week.

danman

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

He said on the radio today that he only worked 1600-1800 Thur and all day Friday.
Ten hours a week.

I don't know the hours he works as a GP, but as far as I know, the practice is his. I could be wrong about that.

As far as his voters are concerned, don't underestimate the dislike that FF'ers in the west of the constituency, have for Blaney.
It's not something that I can say I understand. It was Blaney or McDaid, as far as they were concerned.
They didn't consider Cecelia Keavney, she's not from Letterkenny.

That's the simple reason why McDaid got in.

The rumours around Donegal say that he's not going to stand again.
But with Jim McDaid, you just never know, and Letterkenny will usher him in again.

I spent last week as a guest of Mary Harney's in Letterkenny General Hospital.
The local people I spoke to, couldn't give him enough praise. It's a strange situation. They really do think the sun shines out of certain places.

I heard a few stories, but none that I could possibly repeat......

Sergeant

The real villain of this episode is Noel Tracey, a former minister, who has also refused to hand back the lucrative pension. McDaid is naive to put himself in the firing line, but has a long history of descent.

It is yet another example of why we should introduce a list system in this country, and make our parliament a place where parliamentarians make legislation. As it stands, it is better to be seen going to funerals and U14 GAA matches than "up in Dublin".

Contemptible, parish pump politics from two FF sliveens.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

danman

I spoke to a number of people last week that were his patients. I'm not from Letterkenny, so I wasn't sure about the ownership of the surgery.

He is a very popular man around Letterkenny.

Keavney also lost out on a lot of first preferances in Inishowen to P. McLochlainn (SF).
He has a similar setup as Pearse Doherty. A full time county councilor. He attends the opening of an envelope in Inishowen.

It will be interesting to see what FF will do in the next GE, if McDaid doesn't run. Blaney will still get in, but it will be an interesting fight between McHughe, Keavney and McLochlainn for the other 2 seats.
With public sentiment, I'd say McHughe will get one, but he has a very low profile in Inishowen and as such the east will be a fight again between FF and SF.

shamnafianafail

Look at auld Bertie's form on this attendance debacle 30% and no radio station calling him up for a comment. Sometimes I belive the media in this country only want to sensationalise certain poloticians because they know how they will react. In my view, they have nothing but contempt for non constituancy voters and voters in general. The old addage " sure didn't he get the mother the pension, and she only 59 " still applies in this nod and a wink country of ours.

Nijmegen

People get the democracy they want and deserve. If I ran to be a TD and made a service level agreement with my potential constituents to show up for X amount of votes, do Y amount of community service, etc etc, I doubt it'd really resonate.

If I could swear I'd become the minister for X or Y and deliver the pork home in double the amounts of the national average....

danman

Did I just hear on the 9 o'clock news on newstalk that McDaid said he has been giving his pension to charity for the past few years?

I might have picked it up wrong, I wasn't paying much attention at the time.

Of so, fair play to him. It explains why he has been playing the media for the past week.

maynooth_rules

It shouldn't be up to him to give it to charity. It is money that he legally should not be allowed to be claim, whether or not he gives it to charity. Why the government can't bring in legislation that a person can only get a pension when they have finished working completly I will never know. This is an endemic problem in Ireland and noting is being done. Even in my profession of teaching, it is everywhere

danman

maynooth_rules wrote: »

It shouldn't be up to him to give it to charity. It is money that he legally should not be allowed to be claim, whether or not he gives it to charity. Why the government can't bring in legislation that a person can only get a pension when they have finished working completly I will never know. This is an endemic problem in Ireland and noting is being done. Even in my profession of teaching, it is everywhere

Do you mean legally or morally?

maynooth_rules

danman wrote: »

Do you mean legally or morally?

Personally I mean legally. This shouldn't come down to a moral issue IMO. The laws of the land should make it illegal. You work in any profession, you give up your claims to any of your pensions. Surely this is not tolerated in other EU countries is it?

hallelujajordan

Interesting data . . . However, if you can look past Jim McDaid for a few minutes (btw, I agree with the criticisms) I think the cross party trends are even more interesting . . . .

Average number of votes per TD *

FF : 181
GP : 188
FG : 168
LAB : 170

Proportion of TD's who attended more than 90% of votes (ie >185)

FF : 55%
GP : 83%
FG : 12%
LAB : 11%

Number of TD's who attended 200 votes or more

FF : 18
GP : 1
FG : 0
LAB : 0

Message ? : FF/GP pound for pound better value for money (in terms of legislating) than the opposition ? ?

Liam Byrne

hallelujajordan wrote: »

Number of TD's who attended 200 votes or more

FF : 18
GP : 1
FG : 0
LAB : 0

Message ? : FF/GP pound for pound better value for money (in terms of legislating) than the opposition ? ?

We're paying them all. If they couldn't be arsed showing up to work, then we should kick them out.

hallelujajordan

Liam Byrne wrote: »

We're paying them all. If they couldn't be arsed showing up to work, then we should kick them out.

Indeed, but its still fair to compare one party to another. . and the current government parties have a much stronger attendance record. .

Surely this data makes you question your potential future support for FG/LAB Liam ?

Liam Byrne

hallelujajordan wrote: »

Surely this data makes you question your potential future support for FG/LAB Liam ?

I could well support independent, although I'd need certain conditions written in stone before I could ease my conscience on that.

Other than independent, what viable, realistic and ethical option is there ?

hallelujajordan

Liam Byrne wrote: »

I could well support independent, although I'd need certain conditions written in stone before I could ease my conscience on that.

Other than independent, what viable, realistic and ethical option is there ?

Isn't a vote for an independent just a vote for 'parish pump politics' ? The kind of politics that drive us backwards rather than forward ?

Liam Byrne

hallelujajordan wrote: »

Isn't a vote for an independent just a vote for 'parish pump politics' ? The kind of politics that drive us backwards rather than forward ?

Not really - it depends on the candidate.

If they can vote ethically and with their conscience and the good of the country in mind, then they don't have to follow any bull**** party whip that ensures that bad legislation and hair-brained ideas get pushed through.

hallelujajordan

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Not really - it depends on the candidate.

If they can vote ethically and with their conscience and the good of the country in mind, then they don't have to follow any bull**** party whip that ensures that bad legislation and hair-brained ideas get pushed through.

Indeed, but change can only come through organised majority support . . we need a strong government, not another mish-mash !

Liam Byrne

Anyway, we're drifting off-topic.

Suffice to say that I'll be making damn sure that whoever I vote in will have the best interests of the country - the whole country at heart, and will be prepared to work towards those.

Ironically, if McDaid had decided to not bother turning up for some key votes, then he might have served his country better (assuming there was no vote-pairing).

Liam Byrne

hallelujajordan wrote: »

Indeed, but change can only come through organised majority support . . we need a strong government, not another mish-mash !

We also need ethical, fair and competent government.

Strength is pointless - and even counter-productive - if its not used correctly.

anymore

hallelujajordan wrote: »

Indeed, but its still fair to compare one party to another. . and the current government parties have a much stronger attendance record. .

Surely this data makes you question your potential future support for FG/LAB Liam ?

It is probably explained by fact that FG & Lab cannot in normal circumstances defeat FF & Co.
However i agree TDs should be penalised for missing votes; this just underlines what nonsense the old guff about ' hardworking TDs is.

hallelujajordan

anymore wrote: »

It is probably explained by fact that FG & Lab cannot in normal circumstances defeat FF & Co.

What, so if they can't win they shouldn't turn up ? You wouldn't be so quick to make excuses if the trend were the other way around ?

Liam Byrne

hallelujajordan wrote: »

What, so if they can't win they shouldn't turn up ? You wouldn't be so quick to make excuses if the trend were the other way around ?

Interesting that you're taking that stance, considering you don't appear to agree with the vote of confidence in O'Dea.......

Wouldn't it be far better if people voted according to their conscience and ethics ?

Can you honestly say that FF represented you in that vote ?

hallelujajordan

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Wouldn't it be far better if people voted according to their conscience and ethics ?

Not exclusively, otherwise it would be impossible to make decisions . . politics is all about compromise . .

Can you honestly say that FF represented you in that vote ?

I can't seriously expect them to represent me with every vote . .

Liam Byrne

hallelujajordan wrote: »

Not exclusively, otherwise it would be impossible to make decisions . . politics is all about compromise . .

Are you serious ?

By all means compromise based on things that you want to achieve.....

But do not compromise on conscience and ethics! :mad:

hallelujajordan wrote: »

I can't seriously expect them to represent me with every vote . .

How many recent votes did they actually represent you on, then ?

And in how many of those would you view that their "ethics" were compromised in order to "make decisions" ?

Seth Brundle

danman wrote: »

Did I just hear on the 9 o'clock news on newstalk that McDaid said he has been giving his pension to charity for the past few years?

I might have picked it up wrong, I wasn't paying much attention at the time.

Of so, fair play to him. It explains why he has been playing the media for the past week.

Indeed he did say that he has been giving the pension to charity for the last 4 or 5 years. However, he didn't mention which charity! (see here)
I would also like to know if he claimed tax back on these gifts.

As for his compadre, noel Treacy who "selflessly" is now going to give his pension to charity, apparently he cannot afford to do without his extra €167 per week. And those out of work think they have it bad!
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0506/breaking38.html

walshb

How about these ****ers just give the money back to us, the taxpayer. Charity my arse.
There are plenty of people in the tax net that could do with some bloody charity.

maynooth_rules

A story appeared on todays Sunday Mail in which a reporter was given a sick note by McDaid in order to miss work to spend time with friends. McDaid, knowing there was nothing wrong with him, still gave him a sick cert. No doubt he will do his usual trick and say that this was just a media witch hunt too.

Seth Brundle

In fairness to him (and I'm not condoning this), many doctors apparently do this for people.

Liam Byrne

kbannon wrote: »

In fairness to him (and I'm not condoning this), many doctors apparently do this for people.

Yes, but it's like speeding; if you're caught, you don't start bleating about witch-hunts.....you take the "fair cop" and take your punishment like a man.

maynooth_rules

kbannon wrote: »

In fairness to him (and I'm not condoning this), many doctors apparently do this for people.

Agreed, but it is a personal gripe of mine. These Doctors are in essence taking part in a form of fraud

thebman

maynooth_rules wrote: »

Agreed, but it is a personal gripe of mine. These Doctors are in essence taking part in a form of fraud

Many times Doctors do this, they say it is because of patient stress.

BlackEdelweiss

maynooth_rules wrote: »

It is money that he legally should not be allowed to be claim, whether or not he gives it to charity. Why the government can't bring in legislation that a person can only get a pension when they have finished working completly I will never know. Even in my profession of teaching,

Perhaps our tax is being wasted on your teaching salary aswell, is your statement not a direct contradiction of itself? Is this the level of education our kids are getting!!!
If there is no legislation against it then it is legally his.
McDaid has stated that he does not believe he is entitled to the pension, he wants a rational debate in the dail to amend the situation and not for the country to be ran by the press who basically want to sell more papers.

FlutterinBantam

maynooth_rules wrote: »

A story appeared on todays Sunday Mail in which a reporter was given a sick note by McDaid in order to miss work to spend time with friends. McDaid, knowing there was nothing wrong with him, still gave him a sick cert. No doubt he will do his usual trick and say that this was just a media witch hunt too.

How did McDaid know there was nothing wrong with him?

This is a load of bullsheet, these guys should have better things to do than arseboxing with doctors.

Could jeopardise a genuinely ill person.

I have no time for Mcdaid, but this kind of stuff is stupid.

expectationlost

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

Perhaps our tax is being wasted on your teaching salary aswell, is your statement not a direct contradiction of itself? Is this the level of education our kids are getting!!!
If there is no legislation against it then it is legally his.
McDaid has stated that he does not believe he is entitled to the pension, he wants a rational debate in the dail to amend the situation and not for the country to be ran by the press who basically want to sell more papers.

and now he wants rational debate on fake sicknotes, will his selfishness never end

Raiser

maynooth_rules wrote: »

A story appeared on todays Sunday Mail in which a reporter was given a sick note by McDaid in order to miss work to spend time with friends. McDaid, knowing there was nothing wrong with him, still gave him a sick cert. No doubt he will do his usual trick and say that this was just a media witch hunt too.

Well said actually you're quite the Psychic

From the Independent Link

The Donegal North-East TD said he was glad he had been the victim of a sting operation by a newspaper as it had shown the extent to which "some elements" of the media would go for a story about him.

That bad, bad, mean unfair, Media going out of their way to make him look bad......