Why do politicans get paid so much?

evo2000

Why does for example enda kenny and the likes get so much money? and why hasnt anything been done about it?

michael999999

Because since the fraud squad started nabbing the Fianna fail crooks, they just upped there wages to compensate!

The Backwards Man

They don't get paid that much when you think of what the likes of Pat Kenny and Wayne Rooney earn.

I wouldn't do Kenny's job for double the money he's getting, and neither would you.

ancapailldorcha

They set their own wages and integrity isn't exactly important to them.

evo2000

Could there not be a vote to change the pay scales of our politicans, because they are ridiculously overpaid, its gas how they can implement all these cuts and take home them wages, its worse that there let away with it!

Kermit.de.frog

I know it's not popular to say but being a politician is a very difficult job.

Specialun

Price of coke and hookers gone through the roof

Manach

There does seem to be something awry when city mayors are paid more than some European prime ministers. It had been mooted that the wages reflect the success or not of the economy, but those plans seem to have gone away.

The Backwards Man

evo2000 wrote: »

Could there not be a vote to change the pay scales of our politicans, because they are ridiculously overpaid, its gas how they can implement all these cuts and take home them wages, its worse that there let away with it!

What wage would you work for if you were a politician?

jamesbere

evo2000 wrote: »

Why does for example enda kenny and the likes get so much money? and why hasnt anything been done about it?

Because you touch yourself at night.

dpofloinn

In theory they are set high to keep them '' Honest'' in that if they are getting good wages then they wont feel the need to take bribes, but as we all know theory and practice are two very different things

johnam

evo2000 wrote: »

Could there not be a vote to change the pay scales of our politicans, because they are ridiculously overpaid, its gas how they can implement all these cuts and take home them wages, its worse that there let away with it!

What would you suggest we pay them? Politics is a tough job, I know I wouldn't do it. If you want to attract the right people to the job then you have to pay the right wages. One of the unfortunate parts about democracy in ireland is that people vote for the people they know, or the families they know, or the lad who helped sort their planning permission, and not necessarily the best person for the job.

So we have the wages that attract the top minds, but then elect a bunch of sheep who blindly follow the party whip or get ejected for daring to think for themeselves.

Tail Docker

johnam wrote: »

What would you suggest we pay them? Politics is a tough job, I know I wouldn't do it. If you want to attract the right people to the job then you have to pay the right wages. One of the unfortunate parts about democracy in ireland is that people vote for the people they know, or the families they know, or the lad who helped sort their planning permission, and not necessarily the best person for the job.

So we have the wages that attract the top minds, but then elect a bunch of sheep who blindly follow the party whip or get ejected for daring to think for themeselves.

The rest of Europe and the UK seem to manage alright paying far less. Whatever about the wages, the pensions are eye-watering.

blackwhite

Let's just say we decide to cap politicians' pay at €50k per annum maximum.

Firstly, nobody who is in a permanent job earning more than €40k per annum would go anywhere near politics - why would you give up a permanent position in favour of one which you could lose in 5 years time (or less) if voted out, where you will be subject to intense public scrutiny, and where you will have every idiot under the sun claiming to be able to your job better than you, all for a very small increase in after tax pay?
So instantly you've ruled out roughly half of the people who might possibly stand. Generally people who've progressed to earning higher salaries are those who've been successful in their careers - maybe it might be an idea to try and attract people who've shown a track record of success in their careers?

Secondly, the relative incentive for corruption would be massively increased. Think Fianna Fáil (and others) have been bad in the past? Imagine how bad they would have been if their salaries had been 50% lower? Anyone offering them a few coppers would be getting whatever decisions they wanted made in their favour!

Berserker

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

I know it's not popular to say but being a politician is a very difficult job.

I agree with you. I doubly agree with you w.r.t. the politicians who are in power. I don't know about anybody else but I certainly wouldn't do their job for any amount of money.

sheesh

Well if it wasn't cut after the last shower left it is not going to be cut. Amazing really that people don't get that a certain number of the people are in politics for the money and nothing else. It is the same as any other job. Except you get to give yourself a raise every couple of years.

Like all other jobs you have to pretend that it is not about the money but you are really passionate about <insert job here>.

This is why the people who do the really important work bin collection, maintanence of the sewer system don't get so highly paid nobody wants to employ someone who is passionate other peoples rubbish or poo.

In my experience anyway......

evo2000

People saying politicans have it tough, theres other jobs i can think of that are far tougher and paid much less, i dont think they deserve anywhere near 200k!

Zebra3

The Backwards Man wrote: »

They don't get paid that much when you think of what the likes of Pat Kenny and Wayne Rooney earn.

I wouldn't do Kenny's job for double the money he's getting, and neither would you.

Must be great to know other people's minds. :rolleyes:

Summer wind

They all have the sharp useless look perfected.

Berserker

sheesh wrote: »

This is why the people who do the really important work bin collection, maintanence of the sewer system don't get so highly paid nobody wants to employ someone who is passionate other peoples rubbish or poo.

I know one county council bin man and he mustn't be doing too bad, as he goes to watch his premier league team, in England and Europe, on a very regular basis. I can't comment on poo merchant/engineers or whatever they call themselves.

evo2000

Imagine a politican that worked for the good of his country and the pride of representing his country and took abit above minimum wage! and gave the ridiculous 200k to help a hospital or the poor!

crannglas

The Backwards Man wrote: »

What wage would you work for if you were a politician?

60 grand a year, as all expenses paid when on business trips. No dail bar no alcohol paid for on trips unless paid out of own pocket. I will bet ten grand if the wages came down to that level you would soon see the greedy leave and no greedy ones would become TDs in first place. Also no free ucd or trinity for politicians kids. I would change this country in heart beat. Will you vote for me?

Berserker

evo2000 wrote: »

People saying politicans have it tough, theres other jobs i can think of that are far tougher and paid much less, i dont think they deserve anywhere near 200k!

They don't get paid €200K. Their basic is in or around 90K. Granted some take the proverbial when it comes to expenses.

evo2000

Berserker wrote: »

They don't get paid €200K. Their basic is in or around 90K. Granted some take the proverbial when it comes to expenses.

"In one of his first acts in the top office, Kenny slashed his own pay by €14,000 (a reduction of 7% which leaves his weekly net income at over €2,500). The new government also decided to cut the pay of senior ministers. The Taoiseach's pay was cut from €214,187 to €200,000."

Endas sound tho he said he d round it off to the 200k and make do with that!

dxhound2005

Here's some boys on nice money. No need to go into politics if you are greedy.

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/our-10-highest-paid-executives-and-their-combined-67m-pay-packets-30220615.html

Owen Killian, the Roscommon-born accountant running Swiss-Irish baked goods empire Aryzta, is a regular pay chart topper and 2013 was another good year, with his pay and stock rewards reaching more than €15.5m.

crockholm

The thinking seems to be

A) they get paid so much because they set their own wages.

the old "if you pay peanuts,you get monkeys" excuse.

C) the non-teachers or publicans,few that there are constantly clam that if they were working in a similar Environment in the Private sector they would be much better renumerated.


They still are overpaid,massively overpaid and stuck to the public teet like a breastfeeding barnacle.

crannglas

blackwhite wrote: »

Let's just say we decide to cap politicians' pay at €50k per annum maximum.

Firstly, nobody who is in a permanent job earning more than €40k per annum would go anywhere near politics - why would you give up a permanent position in favour of one which you could lose in 5 years time (or less) if voted out, where you will be subject to intense public scrutiny, and where you will have every idiot under the sun claiming to be able to your job better than you, all for a very small increase in after tax pay?
So instantly you've ruled out roughly half of the people who might possibly stand. Generally people who've progressed to earning higher salaries are those who've been successful in their careers - maybe it might be an idea to try and attract people who've shown a track record of success in their careers?

Secondly, the relative incentive for corruption would be massively increased. Think Fianna Fáil (and others) have been bad in the past? Imagine how bad they would have been if their salaries had been 50% lower? Anyone offering them a few coppers would be getting whatever decisions they wanted made in their favour!

Like in my post above. That's all a good thing. It would attract people who want the Job cause they want to do good for the people and country.

CarrickMcJoe

I agree it's a tough job but it's the very big pensions they get on retirement that p1sses me off.

smash

The rules should be:

If you want to be a politician then you're not allowed be one. Greedy self serving gob****es! Also, teachers can't be politicians and you must be qualified in the field you are supposed to manage.

crannglas

evo2000 wrote: »

"In one of his first acts in the top office, Kenny slashed his own pay by €14,000 (a reduction of 7% which leaves his weekly net income at over €2,500). The new government also decided to cut the pay of senior ministers. The Taoiseach's pay was cut from €214,187 to €200,000."

Endas sound tho he said he d round it off to the 200k and make do with that!

Aww god help him he only has 200 grand a year bless. And only expenses and free trips.

Wez

Their real job is distracting peoples attention away from topics like this. Even if we paid them a quarter of what they're on, it's still far too much!

People like Donnelly are owed a huge debt from this country for the real work they do. By comparison, what chance would Enda have of earning 200k a year outside of politics!? He can barely string a sentence together without a script in front of him.

This nonsense about attracting the "right people" is bull.. Sure most of them are teachers anyway! And most honest people would pitch in to help this country, not look for a competitive salary. I actually think that paying the average industrial wage would do us a lot of good, regarding the type of people that would run for election. If nothing else, it would also mean they're a little closer to reality when making decisions.

The right people have ran for election, but sure the idiots keep voting in the same aul gob****es who "fixed the road" or sorted planning permission or built a state-of-the-art hospital in a 1 horse town.

evo2000

crannglas wrote: »

Aww god help him he only has 200 grand a year bless. And only expenses and free trips.

Tis tough at the top alright! hats off to him tho!

blackwhite

crannglas wrote: »

I will bet ten grand if the wages came down to that level you would soon see the greedy leave and no greedy ones would become TDs in first place.

You'd get sweet F.A. competent ones either. People complain now that teachers dominate the Dáil, well €60k would guarantee that teachers would be one of the few professions that would still consider running for election.

Running a country is one of the most difficult jobs going - I'd like to think that Ireland should be competing for people who otherwise would be walking into highly paid jobs in businesses/global organisations if they weren't in politics (unfortunately that isn't the case with many of our politicians now - but cut the wages and it will guarantee that it never will be the case in the future either).

crannglas wrote: »

Also no free ucd or trinity for politicians kids

How exactly is that a change? Politician's children have the same admissions process and registration fees as anyone else. All you're doing is displaying a rather major chip on your shoulder about certain universities.

dxhound2005

smash wrote: »

The rules should be:

If you want to be a politician then you're not allowed be one. Greedy self serving gob****es! Also, teachers can't be politicians and you must be qualified in the field you are supposed to manage.

What do you think about the motives of the private sector group who pay themselves 5 or 10 million a year. In it for the greed or what?

blackwhite

crannglas wrote: »

Like in my post above. That's all a good thing. It would attract people who want the Job cause they want to do good for the people and country.

And it would primarily attract people who don't have the skill-set to run a country.
It's a tough job - having your heart in the right place doesn't matter a jot if you aren't capable of dealing with the responsibilities.

SpaceTime

Apparently because they're worth it...

I don't mind politicians getting paid fairly well, it is genuinely a tough and very unstable job but there's a limit at which it becomes ridiculous.

The unvouched expenses, the unjustifiable perks and so on need to be stopped. All they're doing is undermining public confidence in politics.

Their pay should also be linked to a representative basket of private sector salleries too, not public sector pay grades that they have direct control over.

blackwhite

Wez wrote: »

I actually think that paying the average industrial wage would do us a lot of good, regarding the type of people that would run for election. If nothing else, it would also mean they're a little closer to reality when making decisions.

The implication being that anyone who has the cheek to gain some skills and earn a decent living for themselves is somehow a lesser type of person, and less in touch with reality, than someone who doesn't earn as much?

Pathetic, mealy-mouthed begrudgery - sounds like the nonsense we normally hear from Joe Higgins

Because if politicians were paid a pitiful wage nobody would ever bother becoming one. Being well paid is not the same thing as being corrupt.

crannglas

blackwhite wrote: »

You'd get sweet F.A. competent ones either. People complain now that teachers dominate the Dáil, well €60k would guarantee that teachers would be one of the few professions that would still consider running for election.

Running a country is one of the most difficult jobs going - I'd like to think that Ireland should be competing for people who otherwise would be walking into highly paid jobs in businesses/global organisations if they weren't in politics (unfortunately that isn't the case with many of our politicians now - but cut the wages and it will guarantee that it never will be the case in the future either).




How exactly is that a change? Politician's children have the same admissions process and registration fees as anyone else. All you're doing is displaying a rather major chip on your shoulder about certain universities.

Politician alert sirens sirens. You seem to be under delusion that people who take less money are not competent? Classy who do you work for ends? And of they would have to have proper degrees for environment or education finance etc..

dxhound2005

Making their wages similar to the top levels in the private sector, or say just one million a year, would that attract better talent? Is that what is keeping people like the managers in Ryanair and Paddy Powers who are super successful away from politics. If it is possible to part hundreds of millions from punters on the horses and football these guys would have no problem running a country. Of course one million would probably not get them on board, two million might.

smash

dxhound2005 wrote: »

What do you think about the motives of the private sector group who pay themselves 5 or 10 million a year. In it for the greed or what?

That's got sweet feck all to do with anything because they're not paid by the public and they have to generate that money through their own companies in order to receive it. Now go back to the dail and do whatever it is you do... Which I'm guessing is absolutely nothing!

evo2000

blackwhite wrote: »

And it would primarily attract people who don't have the skill-set to run a country.
It's a tough job - having your heart in the right place doesn't matter a jot if you aren't capable of dealing with the responsibilities.

Id rather have someone with there heart in the right place making an honest effort, than sneaky under handed people more content feathering there own nest than the people there supposed to represent ! but then again honesty and politics dont go hand in hand!

I dont see how enda and the likes are skilled, the dail is a joke, full of blabbering idiots squabbling over petty things and personal attacks most of the time,

sheesh

Berserker wrote: »

I know one county council bin man and he mustn't be doing too bad, as he goes to watch his premier league team, in England and Europe, on a very regular basis. I can't comment on poo merchant/engineers or whatever they call themselves.

if you are there long enough you can get amazing money especially if you have any responsibility, a council job would be great!

dxhound2005

smash wrote: »

That's got sweet feck all to do with anything because they're not paid by the public and they have to generate that money through their own companies in order to receive it. Now go back to the dail and do whatever it is you do... Which I'm guessing is absolutely nothing!

Say they are running tobacco or gambling companies. Their activities have a deleterious effect on the population which I have to pay for in my taxes.

johnam

Tail Docker wrote: »

The rest of Europe and the UK seem to manage alright paying far less. Whatever about the wages, the pensions are eye-watering.

The UK doesn't pay "far" less when you take into account the cost of living. for example the average MP salary before expenses is 85k compared to 87k for a TD. Obviously ministers wages are higher.

David Cameron gets 178k compared to 200k for Enda.


I do agree though that the pensions etc are crazy!!!!!

blackwhite

crannglas wrote: »

Politician alert sirens sirens. You seem to be under delusion that people who take less money are not competent? Classy who do you work for ends?

Good to see your intellect is enough that you don't immediately start name-calling when someone disagrees with you...... oh, wait :rolleyes:


People who work for less money are probably perfectly competent at whatever job they do.
However, a job that pays the average industrial wage or similar is not very likely to have much relevance to the skill-set required to run a country - hence, the competencies that the people your proposal would attract are not likely to be the competencies needed to run a country.

Seeing as how you seem to have a chip on your shoulder about people going to university I'm going to guess that logical reasoning isn't going to work with you though...... how about "rabble, rabble, rabble" - seems more like what you'd prefer everyone on this thread just spouted instead.

cookie24

They should suffer a substantial pay-cut. That way you weed out the career politicians and are left with people that have the good of the nation at their heart.

smash

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Say they are running tobacco or gambling companies. Their activities have a deleterious effect on the population which I have to pay for in my taxes.

Still private companies. Not paid by the public. And for what it's worth, we all pay for government fcuk ups with our taxes too.

dxhound2005

The sad thing is that there are only 166 positions available, soon to be reduced to 160. And only 15 of those get to the boardroom. And only one chief executive. Fairly precarious career choice as has been mentioned. But one which is uniquely available to completely unqualified candidates. In fact there is no definition of the qualifications.

An AH self appointed expert on everything, of which there are plenty, could go for the job in 2016 and no doubt impress the interview panel (the electorate) enough to walk into the job.

crannglas

blackwhite wrote: »

Good to see your intellect is enough that you don't immediately start name-calling when someone disagrees with you...... oh, wait :rolleyes:


People who work for less money are probably perfectly competent at whatever job they do.
However, a job that pays the average industrial wage or similar is not very likely to have much relevance to the skill-set required to run a country - hence, the competencies that the people your proposal would attract are not likely to be the competencies needed to run a country.

Seeing as how you seem to have a chip on your shoulder about people going to university I'm going to guess that logical reasoning isn't going to work with you though...... how about "rabble, rabble, rabble" - seems more like what you'd prefer everyone on this thread just spouted instead.

God that was serious name calling there. I answered and I am correct you are incorrect.

Yogosan

It's an elitist job and it's a very very difficult, if not completely impossible job. If the salary for being a politician was €0.00 then poor and middle income earners might come to the realisation that they are capable of running the country.

It's impossible for a handful of politicians to run a country efficiently regardless of their salary. It's alot easier, but much less financially rewarding for 5 million people to run a country for no pay... like some sort of... I dunno... democracy or something. But that has rarely been tried before and most people who do try it end up being invaded by the United States. True democracy is very frightening for the establishment.

Just ask the Catalonians.