Bertie Ahern continues to bleed the taxpayer dry!

Judgement Day

According to a report in today's Sunday Times Bertie Ahern has claimed €265,000 in 'secretarial' expenses in the last three years. This information was obtained under the FOI but guess what - no breakdown of what the money was spent on. Is there no end to the disgusting behaviour of this man? Incidentally, there was nothing illegal in his actions but I would put money on it that there was no proper invoices/receipts involved. :rolleyes:

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/public/sitesearch.do?querystring=bertie+ahern&sectionId=2&p=sto&bl=on&pf=all

thebman

And this is why our ridiculous political system needs to be reformed when a man like this just exploits it for all he can.

He isn't the only one either. I would like to see a list of the jobs in the world that allow unvouched expenses. I imagine the list is quite short.

Obviously this man has no shame though.

jimmynokia

he deserves to be locked up i heard he is making a mint giving seminars on the celtic tiger

look at ireland now the pr1ck

here is another article

THE WORK OF two secretarial assistants who are employed by former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at a cost of more than quarter of a million euro to the taxpayer remains a mystery.
A report by Colin Coyne in today’s Sunday Times details how Ahern has claimed €265,000 in expenses for secretarial services since he stepped down in 2008. He’s entitled to two secretaries for five years from the date he ceased to be the leader of the country, and one secretary after that. All former Taoisigh are entitled to the same staff allowances.
A spokesperson from the Department of the Taoiseach told TheJournal.ie that there are no specific details available on the role of secretarial assistants to former Taoisigh. They are not allowed to be engaged in any constituency or political work, and can assist the former Taoiseach in aspects of public life.
According to the Deparment of the Taoiseach the maximum amount that one of these secretarial assistants can be paid is €55,415 per annum. Ahern appears to be taking full advantage of the allotted monies, claiming €114,369 in secretarial expenses in 2009, and €106,838 in 2010, according to Colin Coyne’s report in the Sunday Times.
He is also entitled to mobile phone expenses, and has claimed in excess of €200 a month so far this year – €7,500 in total since 2008.
Bertie Ahern receives a pension of €150,000 a year as a former TD and minister, while he also takes in substantial income from private speaking engagements and appearances.
The Department of the Taoiseach spokesperson noted to TheJournal.ie that a comprehensive review of expenses paid out is currently underway, while a Fianna Fáil spokesperson told TheJournal.ie that the party does not comment on individual’s expenses.

Hootanany

Has he got his Tax clearance cert yet if not stop all payments NOW.

AlekSmart

All opinions on the man aside,the fact is our ex-Taoiseach is NOT breaking any law.

Just as with the big-names of the Irish Property and Fiscal collapse,he managed to ensure that we never had any laws to regulate these sectors because this "Light Regulation" was good for Business.

Lets face it we,as a culture,are very happy with the "Light Regulation" principle...we don't really want to have to wait for the Green-Man before crossing the road when we can just leg-it and dodge the speeding traffic instead....any attempt to impose a Germanic attitude will fall at the first fence.

Whether our current "In Recivership" status will prompt a new order in Irish Public Administration is open for debate...I'm sitting firmly on the fence as to whether we have the stomach for it.

lagente

AlekSmart wrote: »

All opinions on the man aside,the fact is our ex-Taoiseach is NOT breaking any law.

Just as with the big-names of the Irish Property and Fiscal collapse,he managed to ensure that we never had any laws to regulate these sectors because this "Light Regulation" was good for Business.

Lets face it we,as a culture,are very happy with the "Light Regulation" principle...we don't really want to have to wait for the Green-Man before crossing the road when we can just leg-it and dodge the speeding traffic instead....any attempt to impose a Germanic attitude will fall at the first fence.

Whether our current "In Recivership" status will prompt a new order in Irish Public Administration is open for debate...I'm sitting firmly on the fence as to whether we have the stomach for it.

Interesting style of writing in your posts AlekS, but often your arguments are often all over the place, and not meaty.

mikemac

His secretary was contradicted by her boss and she broke down into tears as I remember at the Mahon Tribunal.

Maybe Bertie is putting her on maximum salary for these years to make up for what she went through

Just a wild guess from me, I don't know what Grainne Carruth does these days

raymon

Ireland owes this sponger nothing.

Personally I would like to see the man in a cell in mountjoy .

silverharp

think of it as a stimulus package, look at the jobs maintained. Seems to be good enough for defending most government expenditure

hatrickpatrick

Hang on just a second.
Bertie no longer holds a political office. Aside from a pension, what right does he have to claim ANY expenses whatsoever from the taxpayer?

AlekSmart

lagente wrote: »

Interesting style of writing in your posts AlekS, but often your arguments are often all over the place, and not meaty.

Meaty,beaty,big'n bouncy...But in this instance it's not intended as an arguement at all.

It's beyond arguement that our ex Taoiseach was for many years one of the most popular politicians in the land.

His ability to garner a large personal vote and then to bring in other Fianna Fail candidates in his wake was not magical,it was based on strong,long-running support from the ordinary people.

Whilst Mssrs Aherne,McCreevy,Burke and the rest of the FF cast were capable of bringing home ever increasing sides of bacon,the plain-people were quite happy to sit back and ask no questions.

Those,who did persevere were often roundly derided by not alone the Politicians they questioned,but by the greater body of their supporters too.

Now,with the Irish population munching on scrag-end and rasher-rinds we still apparently wonder aloud as to how he did it...?

Callan57

All I can say is the sooner the Germans take over the better .... are we really going to sit back and accept this plunder of the country's finances?

It says it all about this banana republic when a man at one side of the country can apparently only afford bread & cereal for his kids and a useless gobshíte at the other side is being paid €265,000 in 'secretarial' expenses .. I'd expect Enda first thing tomorrow morning to change whatever rule it is allows that traitor to claim these expenses. If he doesn't then not just the Seanad but the Dail deserves to be abolished.

Gerry.H

This country does not belong to us, it belongs to the golden circle. The last general election has proven that. If it walks like a duck and it quack..s... lik....etc

AlekSmart

Callan57 wrote: »

All I can say is the sooner the Germans take over the better .... are we really going to sit back and accept this plunder of the country's finances?

It says it all about this banana republic when a man at one side of the country can apparently only afford bread & cereal for his kids and a useless gobshíte at the other side is being paid €265,000 in 'secretarial' expenses .. I'd expect Enda first thing tomorrow morning to change whatever rule it is allows that traitor to claim these expenses. If he doesn't then not just the Seanad but the Dail deserves to be abolished.

Indeed,and it kinda begs the question as to whether the whole "Democracy" gig has served Ireland well at all.....

Corsendonk

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Hang on just a second.
Bertie no longer holds a political office. Aside from a pension, what right does he have to claim ANY expenses whatsoever from the taxpayer?

Its over 3 years, he only finished up in the Dail earlier this year.

Judgement Day

Corsendonk wrote: »

Its over 3 years, he only finished up in the Dail earlier this year.

Yes but it's ongoing as on the news today it was pointed out that John Bruton and that other FF rat from Longford are also drawing 'secretarial' expenses but to a lesser extent than Bertie.

HellsAngel

Judgement Day wrote: »

According to a report in today's Sunday Times Bertie Ahern has claimed €265,000 in 'secretarial' expenses in the last three years. This information was obtained under the FOI but guess what - no breakdown of what the money was spent on. Is there no end to the disgusting behaviour of this man? Incidentally, there was nothing illegal in his actions but I would put money on it that there was no proper invoices/receipts involved. :rolleyes:

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/public/sitesearch.do?querystring=bertie+ahern&sectionId=2&p=sto&bl=on&pf=all

It's Fianna Fail, what else could we expect :mad: :mad:

Liam Byrne

The secretaries in question are probably sitting by the phones waiting for the Mahon Tribunal Report, which inexplicably is over 2 years overdue at this stage.

I will cheer the day this rat is put behind bars. Never fell for his false "man of the people" act and have challenged those who fell for it.

It would take too long to list all his crimes against Ireland.

GSF

Ahern got a lot of envelopes so you can see how he might need secretarial help.

Gina L

Wish I was Bertie, well financially like Bertie, but I'm not, so I'll just sit back like the rest of the Country, and let the rest of the politicians follow in his footsteps, we is caught in a loop, Charlie, Bertie, .... who is next... wonder if Paddy Power will take bets on it, might make me some money too.....

raymon

GSF wrote: »

Ahern got a lot of envelopes so you can see how he might need secretarial help.

Haha brown envelopes ......... Fianna fail ........... what a horrible bunch .

Going Forward

Judgement Day wrote: »

According to a report in today's Sunday Times Bertie Ahern has claimed €265,000 in 'secretarial' expenses in the last three years. This information was obtained under the FOI but guess what - no breakdown of what the money was spent on. Is there no end to the disgusting behaviour of this man? Incidentally, there was nothing illegal in his actions but I would put money on it that there was no proper invoices/receipts involved. :rolleyes:

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/public/sitesearch.do?querystring=bertie+ahern&sectionId=2&p=sto&bl=on&pf=all

Good man Bertie, milk it for all its worth.

He wont have to worry about relying on the horsies to make his day with this barrow load of cash from the local gravy train.

This widespread "sense of entitlement" indulged to the highest standards by politicians of all colours both locally and in the EU, confidently screwing unvouched expenses out of a bent system whilst the electorate is "enjoying" the current gifts of our Austerity Package sickens me.

Fred Cohen

Leave Bertie alone, he will be judged by history just like Trevellion, Cromwell and Dermot Mac Murrough were.

We Irish have long memories and his contribution will not be forgotten.

prescar

jimmynokia wrote: »

can somebody hit the snooze button

I second that motion!!

Son Of A Vidic

Fred Cohen wrote: »

Leave Bertie alone, he will be judged by history just like Trevellion, Cromwell and Dermot Mac Murrough were.

We Irish have long memories and his contribution will not be forgotten.

Not that he cares because he'll probably die laughing.

Callan57

Fred Cohen wrote: »

Leave Bertie alone, he will be judged by history just like Trevellion, Cromwell and Dermot Mac Murrough were.

We Irish have long memories and his contribution will not be forgotten.

Agree he has done unbelieveable & unforgivable damage to Ireland & Irish families but why are we letting him continue to do so ... why can't whatever basis he can make these claims under be stopped or at the very least capped? My take home pay could be reduced overnight & my 'legitimate expectations' could be wiped out so why can't his and the rest of the mollycoddled layer that are still creaming it off Irish society?
:mad:

Sleepy

I'm really at the stage where I don't even want to see him jailed: that would cost a fortune thanks to the cosy deals he struck with the prison officers unions over the years. He should be taken out to Kilmainham yard and shot for treason.

If treason isn't still a capital offence, re-introduce the legislation and send his estate the bill.

hatrickpatrick

Corsendonk wrote: »

Its over 3 years, he only finished up in the Dail earlier this year.

And surely all payments apart from pensions and severances and the like should have ceased immediately when he left?

What exactly are we paying him for? He doesn't work for us anymore. His expenses are no longer our problem.

Skullsri

Clearly the best part of him ran down his mothers leg...

jmcc

Sleepy wrote: »

I'm really at the stage where I don't even want to see him jailed: that would cost a fortune thanks to the cosy deals he struck with the prison officers unions over the years. He should be taken out to Kilmainham yard and shot for treason.

No. That is were brave Irish patriots were shot. Shooting that gombeen there would be an insult to Ireland.


Regards...jmcc

Callan57

But isn't he serving a great purpose deflecting attention from all the other white collar spongers who are alive and well and still living off the fat of the land with their pensions, expenses, bonuses & severance payments.

In fact you could say he's still delivering for his cronies
:mad:

doctorwu

Does anybody know if these"secretarie's" even exist.

AlekSmart

Callan57 wrote: »

Agree he has done unbelieveable & unforgivable damage to Ireland & Irish families but why are we letting him continue to do so ...
:mad:

He may well be guilty of all of the above,but equally there are many thousands of people who year after year,across two decades voted for Mr Aherne in their thousands.....solidly,constantly and unquestioningly....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin_Central_%28D%C3%A1il_%C3%89ireann_constituency%29

34%....31.9%....36.4%.....such constant support as this would and does tend to make people compliant in much of what we accuse him of managing single handedly.

And even worse when one considers that He was a protegé of the greatest of them all CJH....another spectacularly and constantly successful advertisment for the abilities of the Irish Voter to make full use of Proportional Representation....

flutered

aherne did some good for this country, he turned f.f. into black rats, which b.t.w. eat their own, then he hocked f.f. to the hairline, he even sold off their hq, now f.f. have nothing to use as colleratral, to raise money of which they owe quite an amount this was their reason for not entering the g.e. they thanks to this quisling and his most inept sucessor have finished them for many many years, now as i enter my final year(s) i smile as i think this mistaken identidy for a human being has at last done some good, the fight that i have fought for many many years to rid my country of this courrept intety has realised my dream themselves, i can now head off into the great unknown a little easier and with a great weight gone from my shoulders.

woodoo

As Haughey said of him. The most cunning of them all (or something along those lines).

Tayla

Bertie Ahern disgusts me.

I know that clearly he feels no shame for what he has done and for what he continues to do but if I were a member of his family I would ashamed to be associated with him.

I don't hate very many people but I hate that prick with a passion.

Corsendonk

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

And surely all payments apart from pensions and severances and the like should have ceased immediately when he left?

What exactly are we paying him for? He doesn't work for us anymore. His expenses are no longer our problem.

It would be interesting to see a breakdown but I imagine he has got the same payments as all former Taoiseach have in the past so any action taken to recover that money from him should be applied to all the former Taoiseach or there estates. Surely the DeValera family owes the state a substantial amount of money gained from its position of power.

Corsendonk

doctorwu wrote: »

Does anybody know if these"secretarie's" even exist.

Yes, one is named Rocco and the other is Jay.

thebman

AlekSmart wrote: »

He may well be guilty of all of the above,but equally there are many thousands of people who year after year,across two decades voted for Mr Aherne in their thousands.....solidly,constantly and unquestioningly....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin_Central_%28D%C3%A1il_%C3%89ireann_constituency%29

34%....31.9%....36.4%.....such constant support as this would and does tend to make people compliant in much of what we accuse him of managing single handedly.

And even worse when one considers that He was a protegé of the greatest of them all CJH....another spectacularly and constantly successful advertisment for the abilities of the Irish Voter to make full use of Proportional Representation....

Well it only really says it about that constituency. You could argue others voted for FF in other constituencies but they were voting for the best local candidate because of our broken political system, the one that could deliver for their area being elected to national parliament because that is the system we are stuck with.

Realistically, no point in complaining about who people vote for while we know the system doesn't work. I think we can only judge people by the fact that the system has been revealed to be broken and people know the consequences of voting the status quo so we can judge constituencies by if their constituencies returned people who want to change the political system in the last election or not

Of course those parties could fail to deliver on these promises but people believed change of the political system was necessary so it will be the parties that fail.

walshb

AlekSmart wrote: »

All opinions on the man aside,the fact is our ex-Taoiseach is NOT breaking any law.

Alek, that is the whole freaking problem.

raymon

walshb wrote: »

Alek, that is the whole freaking problem.

I think alek means that bertie hasn't been convicted yet of breaking any law.
Neither was Charlie, neither was Callely, Cooper Flynn, M Martin, Willie etc etc

ilovesleep

What are irish negligence laws like?

I was reading up a bit on negligence and it says that firstly there must be a duty of care. 2. A breach of this duty 3 a loss or damage due to this breach 4. A link between the loss or damage due to the breach of care.

Bertie as taoiseach was in a position to care for this country. There was a breach when in 2000 he ignored a report from the ERSI that our country was heading for ruins. This really became apperant in 2006 when after a verbal warning of a property crash he told people to commit sucide. The loss or damage is on us - the irish people with the complete collaspe of the economy there will be devastating effects for many, many people which could have been avoided if things were done correctly.

Surely there's no better contender for negligence than bertie.

Sierra Oscar

You have to wonder, how have these payments not been scrapped yet considering the quagmire we are in economically?

Perhaps there should be some sort of nominal payment covering the secretarial fees for former Taoisigh but €80,000+ a year is scandalous!

Ash.J.Williams

I'm sick of this sh*t..

I sent this to my local TD...from now on everybody when you see a politician/senator/public servant screwing the system "i've done nothing wrong, i'm entitled to it"......report it please.....boards.ie is a black hole where opinions disappear.....post your points somwhere where change can happen....(and boards)

Some recent revelations are bothering me. Is it possible that Bertie Ahern is charging the state administration/secretarial fees for his own private money making schemes? Ie are expenses incurred on those highly paid speaking nixers being charged to the taxpayer??
I think the public really need to know the answer to this.

GSF

No defence of Bertie but the figures claimed by Haughey, Reynolds, Bruton and lately by Cowen are ridiculous also. Combining the lot of them it adds up to close to €1.5m over 10 years.

Ash.J.Williams

GSF wrote: »

No defence of Bertie but the figures claimed by Haughey, Reynolds, Bruton and lately by Cowen are ridiculous also. Combining the lot of them it adds up to close to €1.5m over 10 years.

Bertie is right up with them though eh? after 3 years!

Tractor_Pat

Wait a miinute.. 200 hundred a month for phone usage, Look at the price for unlimited mobile usage and unlimited landline usage.. Nowhere near 200 quid.. He cheated and robbed us while in power to line his own pockets and he's still at it.. The sooner the current government sort out this Dustin The Turkey lookalike the better